


Strange and Beautiful

by angelwing



Category: In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drugs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4706057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelwing/pseuds/angelwing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kieren Walker, an owl-winged boy belonging to a secret species of winged humans, has spent the last year stuck in the past. He blames himself for the death of his mate-to-be, Rick Macy, who was murdered at the hands of a flightless hunter named Gary Kendal a year earlier, and although he's old enough to leave the nest and start a new life, he still clings to his past relationship and feels as if it would be betraying Rick to leave.</p><p>However, when Gary returns, Kieren is forced to leave the familiarity of his home as he is kidnapped and taken to the strange world of the flightless people, where he is drugged and sold as a pet. He is adopted by Simon Monroe, a flightless man who is desperately trying to escape his own past and seems to have it in his head that Kieren could be the answer to his problems.</p><p>------------------</p><p>Written for the In the Flesh Big Bang, with illustrations by tumblr user itfdoodles!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the description, this is for the In the Flesh Big Bang. I actually started this in March and finished and had it beta'd in June. My writing has honestly improved since writing this fic? Haha. But still, I'm really, really, really proud of it. I WILL NOT be adding author notes to every chapter, though, because I'm uploading the entire thing in one sitting since the entire fanfic is finished.
> 
> The illustrations are done by the incredibly talented itfdoodles. Reese was so wonderful to work with, so this is a public thank you to them for working with me and doing the art for this fanfic! If anyone wants to skim through to see the art they provided, they can find illustrations in chapters 2, 9, and 11!
> 
> As always, if you enjoy my work I'd love it if you left a comment! Thank you so much to everyone who was apart of making this happen - Reese, my beta, the admins of the ITF Big Bang, everyone else participating who I had the chance to during Big Bang group chats or privately through tumblr messages - you all have been so wonderful and I hope my fanfic can live up to the high standards you all deserve. xx

The old stone sat on the ledge of the plateau. A wilting bouquet of wildflowers lay in front of it, old and dying, stiffened pedals shuddering in the thin mountain breeze. The dark maroon words had faded a bit since it had been painted on, having had to endure a year worth of changing, oftentimes very harsh weather, but it was still very readable to any who understood the language. It was a memorial, a name painted across the top and a short, lonely, empty phrase beneath it.

In English it would translate to something like, _Undeserving of pain, let your sleep be peaceful._

A figure on soft feet approached the old stone. His skin was pale and he had large, deep brown eyes with long, fluttering eyelashes to match. He wore simple clothing made of various furs, sown together crudely by hand, but warm enough that he could thrive in the cold mountain climate, even during the early spring time when the snow was just melting away and the air was still cool enough to sting your lungs.

On the figure’s back was a pair of long, elegant wings. The feathers at the top were golden and auburn and a dark, earthy tan, and covered in dust-colored flecks and speckles that continued downwards, where the auburn changed to a creamy white. There were streaks of silver in the upper feathers, and as the wings were ruffled in the breeze, they seemed to sparkle and glisten.

The figure held a bouquet of fresh wildflowers in his hands. He clutched them tightly as he walked to the old stone, and then he stopped, staring. His wide brown eyes rested on the painted words, lingered on the name, and then he knelt down, placing the arrangement of flowers in front of the rock before sitting before it in silence.

When he spoke, his voice felt too loud, too out of place and awkward, unfitting in a place like this. “It’s been a whole year already. Can you believe that?” He let out a small, bitter chuckle, so quiet that it seemed to instantly be blown away in the light wind. “Feels like only yesterday you and I were out flying and avoiding all of life’s responsibilities. Things change so quickly, don’t they, Rick?”

He went silent after that. He may have been trying to keep himself from crying - it was hard for him to even process his own emotions, and he was not exactly sure what he was feeling or how to handle it. But silence was easy, and he had no problem remaining in it, listening intently to the sounds around him and keeping his eyes on the old painted rock.

Finally, a thought came to him, one that he felt he had to say. He reached out and placed his hand gently on the rock, fingers resting on the cold stone, gently holding onto it. “I’m alright, Rick. I lived. I wish you could’ve died knowing that. I lived and I’m here a whole year later.”

“Kieren?”

Another voice, this one higher and louder, rang out from behind him. Kieren turned, and his eyes found another person, this one a girl with long brown hair, unbrushed but well kept. A small smile rested on her lips, but there was sympathy in her eyes, which were a bright, pretty hazel. On _her_ back was a pair of deep blue wings with ash-colored tips.

“I knew I’d find you here today,” said the girl, and she stepped forward. Kieren stood, dusting himself off.

“Yeah, well, it’s a big day, isn’t it?” Kieren’s voice was quiet. He swallowed, as if trying to push back the emotions that he had just felt, wanting to focus solely on this interaction and put the past - even the immediate past - behind him. He wet his lips and looked down, unable to make eye contact.

The girl nodded. “Mm, it is, but we’re all commemorating it _together_ , Kieren. You can’t just wander off.”

When Kieren spoke again, there was an edge to his tone, as if he had been offended by the girl’s words. “Visiting Rick’s memorial is _wandering off_ now, is it Amy?” He turned back around and sat down stubbornly, facing the stone. His hands tightened into fists on his lap and he took in a deep, trembling breath. “This is a big day for everyone, I know that. But it’s… bigger to me. It matters more to me than anyone else. _You_ know that.”

Amy sighed softly, watching Kieren, the smile on her face gone. “I know,” she agreed, nodding for no one to see. She walked over now, and after watching Kieren for a moment (whose eyes never left the rock), she sat down beside him, stretching out a wing to rest on his shoulder in a comforting manner. “You should head back to everyone else, Kieren. Your mum and dad were worried sick when they realized you’d snuck off. And this is something that _should_ be commemorated as a group. It’s better that way, I think. …Easier.”

For a moment, Kieren was silent, and he seemed to be thinking Amy’s words over in his mind. Then he sighed and turned to her, finally addressing her directly once more. “Lead the way,” He stood again, and he placed a hand on the top of the stone, watching Amy and waiting. She gave him a empathetic smile and made a beckoning gesture as she turned, walking to the edge of the plateau.

Kieren followed, feet on the edge of the flat rock, and he looked down. There was a deep valley beneath them, all green and bright. Trees and bushes littered the land and a bright blue river, sparkling in the sunlight, ran through the center. The height was incredible, but Kieren was unafraid. Heights were not a danger to them.

Amy flew first. She stepped forward, as if she were planning to fall, but before gravity could have its way with her she had spread azure wings and taken off, dipping downwards briefly only to curve back upwards, towards the sky. Then she waited, hanging in the air, wings beating to keep her up and in place as she waited for Kieren. His take off was clumsier, dipping just a bit lower and flapping just a bit harder, but soon he was beside her in the air.

“We should go back to your nest, Kieren!” Amy said, projecting her voice in order for it to be heard over the wind as well as the beating of her own wings. “That’s where your parents are waiting!”

Kieren nodded, sighing. He faced the direction of his home now, back turned to the old stone, and flew forward. Wind blew threw his strawberry blonde hair and he closed his eyes as the cold breeze hit his face, causing his skin to tingle and sting just a bit. He glanced behind him briefly, watching to make sure Amy was following, before he was facing ahead once more, towards another mountain. There was a cave on the side of this one, and a small ledge that jutted out. On it rested a number of scattered trinkets, as well as a small area with scorch marks on the ground and a small array of firewood in the center, where a fire would be lit at night.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kieren saw a blur of brown and blue dart past him. Amy had sped up ahead, arriving at the ledge first and landing gently, her wings beating a few more times in order to ground herself before tucking them behind her. By the time Kieren had landed, she had already walked into the cave.

Heart pounding with both the adrenaline caused by flight and dread of what was about to come, Kieren let his feet lead him inside slowly.

It was not a deep cave. The back was easy to reach, and there, a large nest made up of various furs and cloth could be found. Sitting on it was an older woman with short brown hair, and besides her, a young girl, nearly Kieren’s age but not quite, with long brown hair. The woman had ashen brown wings with small flecks of gold on the upper feathers. The girl’s wings were a bright, stunning red, the color of a rose. Amy was standing and speaking to both as Kieren reached them.

The older woman let out a long sigh as she saw Kieren, and she stood, walking to him and pulling him into a hug. “Kier, we were worried sick,” she reprimanded. There was more relief than anger in her tone.

“I leave the nest all the time, Mum. I’ve been flying for ages now.” Kieren replied awkwardly. “I just had to go… pay Rick a visit is all.” His mother let go of him at that and sighed, giving him a sad, understanding look. In a desperation to change the subject, he asked, “Where’s Dad?”

The girl with the bright red wings rolled her eyes. “Out looking for you, dumbass.” She breathed a sigh and stood, stretching, her wings unfurling briefly. “I’ll go find him. Let him know our runaway finally decided to come home.” She walked to the front of the cave, shoving past Kieren as she did.

Kieren’s mother called out, “Be safe, Jem!” as she took off.

Once she had left, Kieren sighed and turned to his mother once more. “Mum, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“Kier, I would’ve let you go see him. I _do_ understand, you know. We were just worried about no contact. No way of knowing you were safe.” The woman sighed, shaking her head, and a little laugh left her. “I know you’re old enough to take care of yourself, you don’t have to remind me. But… you do get it, right? Why I’m so worried? Especially today.”

Kieren nodded. “I know,” he said quietly. He sat down now, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. “I said I was sorry, didn’t I?” He was silent for a long time after that. Amy eventually sat down beside him, resting a wing on his shoulder again and reaching out to take his hand, squeezing it gently. Kieren made no move to stop her, but he didn’t acknowledge her gestures either.

Finally, his mother spoke once more.

“Kieren, I just want you to be safe. I always do. But today especially, I just… have to keep an eye on you.” She wet her lips, eyes wandering to the ground as she thought for the words to say. “I don’t want to lose you. We’ve lost enough as it is.”

Kieren rolled his eyes at that. “ _I’ve_ lost enough. You and Dad, you still have each other and me and Jem. What’ve I got?!” Amy shifted a bit, and Kieren was only vaguely aware of how his dismissive words had most likely hurt her. He was too distracted with his own emotions right now, too upset and angry and scared.

There was silence once more after that. Amy’s wing remained on Kieren’s shoulder and she continued to hold his hand. His mother said nothing else. Multiple times Kieren opened his mouth to speak, but no sound left him.

Then, a voice echoed from the front of the cave, “Sue?! Kier?!”

A man came running in. He had light hair and his wings looked similar to Kieren’s, creamy white with gold and tan painted over the upper feathers. He let out a long sigh of relief as he saw Kieren. “Thank God, son. I was so- We were so-”

“I know,” Kieren interrupted, looking away. “And I said I was sorry. I just went to visit Rick.” The man fell silent and looked down at these words. He walked to Kieren quietly, and then sat down beside him, on the opposite side of Amy. Kieren let out a little huff. “I know you were worried. But I’m fine.”

“Well, here we are. Reunited at last!” Jem walked in now, bright red wings tucked behind her and a smile on her face. Although her tone had been teasing, Kieren knew her well enough to understand that she had no intention of being cruel. She sat down next to their father. “Any plans for food, then?”

It only took her about five seconds to realize that now was not the time. Everyone was in silence. Kieren was still hugging himself. On either side of him, Amy and his father sat. Sue stood quietly, watching them.

Jem tried again to start a conversation, this time with the atmosphere in mind. Voice quiet, she said, “I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already, eh? Feels like it was yesterday.”

Kieren shook his head. “No, it doesn’t.” he said decidedly. He had felt that way earlier, when he was with Rick. It had felt so recent, like it was only days ago that Rick had still been alive. Like just yesterday the two of them had been together… But now, in the darkness of his family’s cave, sitting in silence with them… It didn’t feel like yesterday. The whole year, every day, it had hurt. And now all of that hurting seemed to be crashing down, like he was reliving it all at once, and it felt like it had been so long since he had last been happy.

“The flightless haven’t returned, though. That’s what matters, I think.” Sue said softly, hesitantly, as if worried that any word she said could be the wrong one. “We’re still safe, and there have been no signs of them returning here anytime soon.”

Jem nodded and smiled at that, turning to glance to Kieren. “The flightless aren’t interested in us anymore.”

Kieren rolled his eyes. “You say that like they wanted to have a conversation. They killed us, Jem. They killed Rick.”

Voice quiet, Jem said, “Rick chose to die.”

“He was saving me!” Kieren was on the verge of tears now, and he didn’t particularly care if his family saw. It was inevitable on a day like today, he supposed. “The flightless were going to kill me, Jem. You know that. They were going to murder me and Rick died to save me.” He stood up, aware that there were tears in his eyes, unable to help it. “You know we never actually got to finish the courtship ritual? We never got to actually be recognized as mates. His memorial doesn’t mention he had a mate.”

Sue nodded. “I know, Kier.”

“But you _don’t_.” Kieren shook his head. “You don’t know. You have a mate. You have two children. You have a nest and food and your _mate_ isn’t a bloody _rock_.” He turned to his father now. “Dad, when you die, when we make a memorial for you-”

Jem furrowed her brow. “Don’t talk about that, Ki-”

“ _When we make a memorial for you,_ ” Kieren repeated the phrase stubbornly, refusing to be interrupted. “You’ll get your name, some vapid phrase that’s supposed to make people sad when they see it, and _Sue Walker_ will be written on the bottom. But Rick doesn’t have that. His name is there, that bullshit phrase is there, but there _isn’t any other name._ ” A soft, almost hysteric laugh left him. “And you know, he wouldn’t even be dead if it weren’t for me. If he had just let me die, he would still be alive.”

Kieren’s father had paled a bit, but he wasn’t saying anything. Everyone was silent. Kieren, suddenly emotionally exhausted, sat back down in the corner of the nest, pulled his knees back up to his chest, and began to cry. The silence remained, thick and heavy, no sound but Kieren’s sobs and the soft breathing of his family and friend able to be heard.

Finally, Sue sat down, just a ways away from Kieren, giving him space but still trying to stay close enough that he knew she was there. “Kier,” she began, tentative and quiet, careful not to say anything wrong. “I know it hurts. We lost people too. The flightless attacked mercilessly. They took friends away and they killed friends right in front of us. It wasn’t your fault that Rick is dead. He died to save you, but it’s not your fault. You understand that, right? It’s the flightless’ fault, not yours. _They_ killed Rick.”

Kieren nodded slowly, sniffing but saying nothing. Sue took the chance to move closer and pull him a bit closer to her. He made no move to stop her, but still kept quiet, eyes on the cave floor.

“Why don’t we go hunting?” Jem offered gently. “Kier, you and Amy are good at catching rabbits, yeah? You two want to go out and grab dinner with me?” She smiled and stood, unfurling and stretching rose-red wings. “Mum and Dad can get a fire started while we’re out. The sun will be setting pretty soon.”

Amy gave Jem a small, thankful smile at that and stood. “Great idea, Jem! C’mon, Kieren. Come with us? You’ll probably be happier out there than cooped up in this cave for the rest of the night.” She hummed softly, and walked over to the other, holding out a hand for him. “Maybe we’ll even get lucky and manage to hunt down a deer. Tonight’s a night for celebration! We’re all still alive and together. We should celebrate that. It’s better than mourning.”

Kieren sighed, and for a short moment Amy thought he would reject the offer, for he said nothing. However, finally, he stood as well and took a deep, shaky breath. Voice still hoarse from crying, he had to clear it, and he wet his lower lip before saying, “Alright, let’s go.” He forced a small smile and turned to his parents. “We’ll be back soon, okay? Get a fire started while we’re gone.” And there was just the smallest hint of an apology in his tone, as if trying to silently say that he was sorry for all that he had said.

A little laugh left Amy, just a bit hesitant due to the thick, heavy, completely dreary atmosphere that was still lingering in the nest. “He’s right. I’ll keep a close eye on them, make sure we all make it back in one piece.” With that, she turned, waking to the front of the cave. “C’mon, Walker children, let’s get going! We’ll have a feast tonight! A celebration that we’re all together!”


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks passed. Nothing was easier - it felt like it was all happening over again. Kieren could remember it, could _feel_ it, vividly, like he was reliving the pain he had felt these same three weeks a year ago. Back when his wing was still broken, when the paint on the old stone out on the plateau was still bright, when he was alone and lost and struggling to adapt to a life without Rick.

And Amy understood, to an extent, and he was grateful for that. She could never _really_ understand - she had lost her parents as a child, and had no memory of them. She had never lost someone close to her that she had any recollection of. But she understood that he was hurting, and she did her best to be there for him, and Kieren appreciated it.

Jem and his parents tried too. They really did. His mother and father didn’t do much good, but they gave him space, and they let him spend time alone, and they treated him delicately and with respect, which he needed. But most of Kieren’s time was spent alone, going on long solo flights with no destination or wandering through the thick forests of the mountainsides. He spent little time on the plateau with the old stone, but he did check up on it occasionally, visiting it briefly before turning away and trying desperately to forget about its existence.

It was a warm morning, warmer than they had had so far. The snow was entirely melted now and the breeze no longer pinched or burned, but felt fresh and cool in Kieren’s lungs and through the feathers of his wings. He flew deep down into the valley beneath his home in the mountains. They never went down there, but it was gorgeous. The river, sparkling and blue as the sky, shimmered and glistened with the melted snow that ran through it. Trees and bushes, untouched by the snow that had covered the mountaintops, were green and bright.

Kieren was curious about what life down there was like. According to his parents, it was nothing exciting. The same as up here, except it was easier for the flightless to find you and there were more wild animals. But it still intrigued him, and while he was not about to break his parents’ rules and fly to places he was not allowed, he enjoyed soaring down, looking around, trying to get an idea of what life below the mountains was like.

Today, he stopped on a small ledge that jutted out from the mountainside, a bit lower than his nest or the plateau with the old rock. There he sat, gazing down into the valley, wings spread out and flapping lazily on his back from time to time. He didn’t have much to do nowadays. With no one but his family and Amy left in these parts there was little work to be done, and while he knew he was at the age that he could leave his nest and look for a mate of his own, the thought was out of the question.

He _had_ found a mate. And he wasn’t going to go replace him so quickly.

“Kieren!”

Kieren was pulled out of his quickly-darkening thoughts as Amy soared over, landing on the ledge and sitting next to him. There was little room for both of them on the small surface and he found himself pressed against her. “What is it, Amy?”

“I was looking for you! Jem and I were wondering where you’d gotten off to. She said she thought you’d gone out to look for berries. Y’know the ones in the western meadow are starting to ripen? She said you might be over there, so I went out to look for you.” Amy explained. “When I didn’t find you there I decided to keep looking. Didn’t want to worry your parents or anything.”

Kieren smiled at that, appreciating Amy’s secretivity, because the _last_ thing he wanted to do now was worry his parents. “Thanks. Well, you found me, huh?” He chuckled a bit, wings folding now as he stared at his best friend. “I’ve just been flying around all day.”

Amy shook her head. “ _Boring!_ Find something to do with yourself, Kieren!” She nudged him playfully, and Kieren chuckled a bit. “We could go look for ripe berries together, if you want? Maybe bring them back as a surprise for your family?”

“That sounds nice,” Kieren agreed, because he really had nothing else to do. He stood now, and almost carelessly jumped into the sky, falling off of the ledge before spreading his wings out and swooping back up. He held out a hand for Amy as he waited, beating his wings to stay aloft. Amy soon followed his lead and the two were off, flying back up to the mountainside that they called home.

As they flew Kieren’s mind began to wander again and he frowned, remembering his thoughts from earlier. Turning to Amy, he called out, “Can I ask you something?”

Amy glanced to Kieren. “What is it?”

But Kieren didn’t respond. Instead he remained lost in thought for the rest of the flight, and it wasn’t until they had landed in a large, grassy clearing that he finally turned to Amy and asked, “Why haven’t you gone out to find a mate yet?”

Amy blinked, seemingly caught off guard by the question. “What?” She furrowed her brow. “I… I want to help your mum and dad, Kieren. And I want to be there for you. You’re my best friend!” She smiled, but there was a look in her eyes that Kieren noticed immediately. She was confused, and a bit wary of the question.

“B- But… but you’re... You don’t have anyone.”

“I have you and Jem and your parents.”

Kieren shook his head. “But that’s not the same. I have- er, _had_ Rick. My mum and dad have each other and Jem and I. But you don’t have anyone. You could go out and find a mate and have a family of your own, with no attachments or guilt or anything.”

Amy took in a deep breath and shook her head. “Kieren, I didn’t grow up with family. Your parents were the closest to parents that I ever had. And they lost so much when the flightless attacked us, I couldn’t just-”

“ _They_ lost so much? What the fuck did they lose?!” Kieren’s tone turned bitter quickly and he glared at Amy, hurt that she could ever imply that anyone lost more than he did, that anyone was deserving of sympathy after the attack other than him.

Sighing, Amy shook her head again. “You don’t think they suffered too? Think about how many of their friends were killed. How many of them flew away after the attack in case the flightless returned. How many were _kidnapped_. And _you_ \- they had to see their only son lose his mate-to-be. You think they’ve been able to get over that?”

Kieren laughed bitterly. “Sorry _my suffering_ is such a _burden_ , then!” He walked away. Amy rolled her eyes and followed after him, catching up quickly and grabbing him by the shoulder.

“Kieren, you asked me why I stayed and I told you. I owe it to your parents. And I love you. You know that, right?” She smiled and reached around to squeeze his hand.

Kieren sighed and looked down at his feet. “I know,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, Amy.” He turned back to her now, looking her in the eyes. “Let’s go pick berries, shall we?”

It would turn out that the berries weren’t ripe enough to be eaten yet, with the exception of a handful that Kieren and Amy shared. After a bit more fruitless searching the two decided to return to the cave to let Jem know that Kieren had been found and see if there was any work to be done.

“You think Jem will be mad that we didn’t save her any berries?” Amy asked with a grin, turning to Kieren as they flew.

Kieren laughed at that. “Don’t tell her we found any edible ones!”

The plateau with the old memorial rock was close enough to his nest that Kieren almost always flew past it when returning home. He looked down now, realizing that they were flying just above it, and a frown suddenly found its way onto his lips. He flew down a bit, closer to the rock. Amy, noticing the odd behavior, followed.

“Something wrong?” Amy asked.

Kieren pointed down. “There’s something on the plateau. Er… a lot of things. Some sort of animal.” He squinted as he looked down, too high above the flat area to actually make out what was beneath them. “D’you think we should have a look?”

Amy shrugged. “Don’t see why not. Let’s go!” She soared downwards at that, and Kieren followed, watching the moving creatures on the rock carefully.

_BANG!_

Something accompanied by a loud, echoing sound zipped past Kieren’s wing, just barely brushing the feathers, moving fast enough that he barely had time to process its presence before it was gone. Immediately he recognized the sound and pure terror filled him. Paling and immediately ceasing his descent, he turned to Amy, staring at her with wide, terrified eyes.

“Amy, w- we have to get out of here.”

Amy had stopped just beneath him and looked up, her eyes wide with fear. “We need to tell your parents,” she said, words almost too soft to be heard over their wing beats. She immediately began to fly again, picking up the pace in hopes of flying over the plateau without any other disturbance.

_BANG!_

  


There was another loud, echoing sound, but Amy flew onwards. It was not for another few yards that she became aware of Kieren not being by her side and called out, “Kieren, hurry up!”

No response.

Frowning, Amy turned, looking behind her for Kieren, praying that he had simply fallen a bit behind.

He wasn’t there.

Kieren was gone. Amy nearly fell, her entire body freezing and her face going white with fear. Kieren wasn’t with her. Terrified, she flew back, towards the plateau, and began to fly down to get a better look of what exactly was going on.

She suspected the worst and she was absolutely right.

A small group of flightless humans stood there. One of them she recognized, and she gasped with terror. He had been here before, last time they had attacked. In his hand was the item that had caused the loud banging sound; a long, black item that shot at them and had murdered at least a dozen of them - including Rick.

And now Kieren lay on the ground. A deep red substance coated his right wing, which did nothing but twitch in agony. But he was alive, his left wing beating frantically in an attempt to escape even as the flightless humans tied him down, his legs, arms, and wings bound with rope.

But he looked up now and saw Amy flying above them and his eyes went wide. “Amy!” he cried out, loud enough that even in the air Amy could just hear it. “Amy, ple-” He was suddenly cut off as a long piece of cloth was stuffed into his mouth and tied around his head, successfully gagging and silencing him.

And the man from before looked up, eyes following where Kieren’s had been until they landed on Amy, and Amy was immediately flying upwards and away, higher and further and desperate to escape at all costs. She heard banging, knew that the deadly weapon was being fired at her, but she was too far away to be hit now. So she stopped flying and remained aloft in the air, watching helplessly from afar as the flightless humans had their way with her friend.

After being bound and gagged a small item was taken from a bag that was carried by one of the flightless humans. They spoke to each other in words that Kieren could not understand and he fought desperately to get away from them. But suddenly something small and sharp pricked his skin, stabbing into him and causing him to let out a yelp into the cloth that muffled his voice.

After that, staying awake became a great struggle for Kieren, and he found himself having to fight harder and harder to not fall asleep. This soon proved to be a battle that could not be won, for he passed out in seconds.

Amy watched as Kieren’s unconscious body was picked up and carried away, into the forest that the plateau jutted out of. For a moment she remained there, wings beating to keep her up as she weighed her options. If she went and told Kieren’s parents, the flightless humans would already be long gone… she didn’t have time to get help.

Determined to save her best friend she flew forward. She wouldn’t - _couldn’t_ \- safely attack the flightless people, but she would wait, and she would find a way to save Kieren.

xxx

Kieren would spend the next week of his life in a state of unconsciousness, save for briefly being woken long enough to eat. He was fed berries, but they weren’t like the ones from the meadow back home. When he wasn’t eating, however, he was asleep. It was a forced sleep, and it was terrifying, because he had never felt anything like it before - With just the prick of a needle, his own consciousness was no longer under own control.

But he had no opportunity to think, no time to even figure out where he was or acknowledge the world around him. He was kept in a small room with his wings tied, and his right wing hurt too much to even touch. He still did not understand what had happened to it. One moment he had been flying, and then it had hurt too much to even try to move, and he had fallen. The room, wherever it was, was completely dark, and the world around him was bumpy, shaking constantly.

He was unaware of it, but he was currently in the back of a truck.

It was early one morning that said truck came to a halt, and Kieren was woken to bright sunlight pouring through the back. He opened exhausted eyes, noticing vaguely that the world around him was no longer shaking and bumping. However, he had little time to process anything as three flightless people entered the back of the truck and grabbed him.

“Get off of me!” Kieren snapped, pulling away, his mind still hazy and his body weak from the drugs and travel. “Let me go!”

The people laughed at that, which had Kieren frowning, and one of them spoke to him in a language he could not understand. Then a tight leather collar was placed around his neck and his arms were bound with rope once more and leading him by a leash, he was dragged out of the truck. As he exited his eyes went wide and his face paled, pure fear replacing all emotion.

He was not in the mountains.

He was not even in the valley beneath the mountains.

In front of him was a structure unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was huge and rectangular, a light grey with green at the top, like a cave but with sharp edges - a building. The back of a building, to be specific. The ground beneath his bare feet was hard and cold and black. And odd, metallic things, all different colors and large enough to fit inside sat around them, unmoving. And the thing he had been inside, what was it?! Had it taken him here? Where was he?

This was the world that the flightless lived in, he thought. He had never seen it, never even had it described to him, had never even tried to imagine it and if he had he knew he would not have imagined it like this, and he was in a state of shock and fear so great that he was easily pulled forward, to a door in the back of the large building. Inside the door was shut and he was all but shoved towards and onto a large bed. There he was tied down on his stomach, his wings were freed from the rope that bound them, and he was left alone.

Stuck and finally beginning to come to his senses, Kieren began to panic. What had happened?! His perception of time skewed due to the drugged state he had been in for the past week, he found himself unable to even begin to process how much time had passed since he had last been home. A day? A few hours? A month? He had no idea. But he did know one thing - these humans, the flightless, were the ones who had murdered Rick.

And now they had him.

Eyes going wide as the thought fully sank in, Kieren flapped his wings desperately. His right wing still hurt, but he did not care at the moment. He only cared about freedom. He had to get home. Had they caught Amy too?! Where was she? Did his parents know what had happened? Were _they_ safe?

_“Quit yer struggling!”_

The sound of a voice speaking in a language he did not understand had Kieren jumping with surprise and turning to see a man in the doorway with short, dark hair and a faint beard. Immediately Kieren froze, and fresh terror spread through him, the situation growing even worse than before. The flightless man laughed and walked over, and Kieren tried desperately to pull away.

The flightless man who had murdered Rick. The one who had been there before. The one who had shot him and tied him up and taken him away.

 _“You remember me, then?”_ the man said now, and Kieren wondered what he was saying, could only pick up the nastiness in his tone to know that whatever it was, it was not good. _“I sure as fuck remember you. Got lucky last time, eh?”_

“Please let me go,” Kieren begged. His wings flapped feebly, but froze completely when the man placed a hand on top of one of them.

The man said more words that Kieren did not understand before walking to the counter on the other side of the room. There was a bag sitting there, and Kieren watched with his brow furrowed as he pulled something from it. Confusion and curiosity quickly turned once more to fear as the man turned back around to reveal a large syringe. Kieren recognized the item from before, in the truck, when he had been forced to sleep.

The man walked back over and grabbed Kieren’s arms. Kieren let out a cry of surprise and tried to pull away, but a sudden, sharp tug at his hair made him go still again. _“Gonna fix you up now, got it?” _The man spoke once more in the language Kieren didn’t know and suddenly the needle was being forced deep into the underside of Kieren’s arm and he yelped again, but another yank at his hair forced him to stifle the sound and go quiet.__

__The same treatment was given to Kieren’s other arm, injected with whatever it was that was in the syringe. These were different than the ones from before, he thought. For one, even minutes after the injections, he was not feeling tired._ _

__But he _did_ feel odd. His head spun, and he had trouble thinking straight, and coherent thoughts became nearly impossible to form._ _

__The man beside him said a few words, but he could not understand them, and he did not bother to try. Again, his hand was on Kieren’s head, but instead of pulling at his hair this time he pet him, gently running his fingers through his hair, and Kieren’s wings twitched but other than that he did not move, oddly dazed by whatever had been forced into his body and no longer making any sort of attempt to fight._ _

___“How d’you feel?”_ asked the man, and whatever he said, though Kieren could not understand it, was said with a snicker and a sneer. _“Think I can untie you without any problems?”__ _

__“Where’s Amy…?” Kieren’s words were slurred and slow, and he only had a vague memory of who or what “Amy” was, but knew that it held some importance._ _

__Rather than being given an answer the man untied Kieren now and forced him to sit up. Kieren flapped his wings a bit, looking around the room once more, and then winced at the pain in his right wing and the man frowned. He grabbed Kieren’s injured wing, the one that he had shot, and Kieren let out a yelp of pain. _“Yer still hurt. Ah well, just give it some time. It’ll be fine soon enough.”__ _

__After this, the man dragged Kieren out of the room and down the hallway on the leash. This time, however, he was more easily tugged along, and willingly allowed himself to be led to a small bathroom with a shower, where he was stripped and washed._ _

__Until now Kieren had bathed infrequently, and had only washed himself in the streams of the mountain. The warm water that poured from the shower head shocked and confused him and he fought just a bit against his captors at the feeling of his wings being soaked - he could not fly well with wet wings, and between that and the fact that he was currently naked, he felt vulnerable and weak. But the warm water felt admittedly pleasant against his skin and to his relief the humans who washed him were gentle, and he was soon calm, allowing the flightless to wash him up._ _

__Then he was pulled from the shower and dried off. Blow dryers were _terrifying_. The only man-made item he had heard make such a loud sound before was a gun, and he jumped and shielded himself with his wings as the loud roar of the machine started up. However, he realized soon that the item was harmless and that the hot air that blew from it actually felt nice, and he relaxed once more. He was then dressed in flightless human clothing - specifically, a light grey t-shirt and dark, cotton track pants. Except there were two holes in the back of the shirt, which his wings were shoved through._ _

__Washed and dressed, Kieren was lead now to a large cage, although he was much too disoriented to even properly process that he was locked up at first. He was unleashed, but the collar around his neck was kept on, and the door to the cage was locked behind him. His vision and thoughts were still blurry and he could see little around him but large metal bars and the shapes of what looked like other cages in the same room as him. But he was not afraid. In fact, he was having trouble feeling any negative emotions, even towards his captors. Rick was no longer on his mind, and he had only the vaguest, smallest memory of someone named Amy, who he knew was important, but he did not know why._ _

__Later on he was brought a plate of food. It was nothing like anything he had seen, smelled, or tasted before but it was warm and edible, and whatever it was, some sort of flightless food he supposed, he ate it easily._ _

__Kieren spent the rest of the day sitting alone in the cage trying to think. His mind was a mess - he could not focus, and could not remember anything particularly well. Part of him, deep down, longed for freedom. He wanted to get out, to fly into the sky, to soar through the clouds and go home… But where was home, really? His memory was fuzzy._ _

__There were names, clouded and difficult to access but still there nonetheless. Amy, he kept thinking. He was waiting for someone named Amy, but he did not remember why anymore. He also remembered a Rick, but the feelings that came alongside that name were much less positive or hopeful. A pit grew in his stomach and he felt empty, sadness and bitterness flaring up in him, and he quickly decided that whoever, whatever Rick was, he would not dwell on it any longer._ _

__When no one else arrived and nothing else happened for a long period of time, Kieren fell asleep in the dark, empty cage._ _


	3. Chapter 3

Amy’s wings ached. They had ached for days. She had been following the huge machine that Kieren had been placed in, driven by the same team of flightless humans who had taken him. Desperate to save him, she had followed them down a long, dark road, out of the mountains and into the world of the flightless humans. And she had seen it stop behind a huge building, and she had watched from afar as Kieren was taken out and brought inside, but she had done nothing, for she knew that a direct confrontation would only have led to her being captured too.

Amy had to be careful here. She wanted to be quick, wanted to get home as soon as possible, but she had to be careful if she wanted to survive. This world was nothing like anything or anywhere she had seen or imagined before. It was so intriguing, so new and exciting, but she knew that despite her curiosity, she had to be careful. The flightless could not be trusted, and this was an entire world of them.

And so, avoiding the gaze of any flightless who walked through the odd concrete streets or drove in those large metallic machines, Amy had committed the location of her friend to memory before finding a large park, where she landed in a tree and sat, wings folding in so that, in the rare chance of a flightless human looking up and spotting her, she would at least not be instantly recognized as a winged person.

With a sigh, Amy leaned against the trunk of the tree and stretched uncomfortably. Her wings were incredibly sore. For a week she had been traveling, following the truck every day, sleeping near it when it parked at night, watching it from afar. The flightless had occasionally entered the back, where Kieren was trapped, bringing food with them, so she knew that he was being kept alive.

Where was he now, though? Amy bit her lip. What were they doing to him? They had kept him alive in the truck, but why? What now? She had to figure out a way to save him quickly. She knew that she could not pass as a flightless - Even if she didn’t have her wings, she was dirty and she wore light, sown-together fur, while the wingless humans were so well cleaned and wore such nice clothing. And she could not speak their language… But she would find a way to save Kieren. She had traveled this far - She could not go home without him now.

xxx

Kieren was woken the next morning as the door to his cage was opened and the dark haired man entered. _“Right then!”_ he said, and Kieren still could not understand, but noticed the cheeriness to his tone and became confused. And he could have sworn he had some reason for not liking this man, but now he couldn’t remember… _“Ready for yer training, then?”_

“What’s going to happen to me?” Kieren asked softly, vaguely aware that he would not be understood.

_“Quit squawkin’! We gotta teach you some English.”_ The man stared at Kieren for a moment, then grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up, onto his feet. _“Say, ‘Good to meet you.’”_ Kieren blinked, not understanding. He stared, watching the man’s mouth, trying to figure out what he could possibly be telling him. Did he know that he didn’t speak his language…? The man growled now and grabbed Kieren’s face, causing him to let out a gasp of surprise, eyes widening with fear. _“I said, ‘Good to meet you.’”_

Kieren blinked, biting his lip and staring at the flightless man, trembling just a bit. _“G- Good…?”_

_“Good to meet you.”_

Repeating sounds he did not know the meaning of, Kieren swallowed and echoed, _“Good to meet you.”_ He waited then, going still, watching the man’s face and hoping for his approval. The man nodded, grinning with amusement.

_“There ye are!”_ He let go of Kieren, shoving him back and holding out a hand. _“My name’s Gary. Good to meet you!”_ He grabbed Kieren’s hand and forcibly shook it.

Kieren stared at his and Gary’s hands and furrowed his brow. _“Good to meet you…?”_ He yanked his hand away and took a step back, confused and overwhelmed. In his own language, he asked awkwardly, “What does that mean?”

But he wasn’t given an answer. Instead, Gary said, _“Now you say, ‘I’m a good boy.’”_ Not knowing what he was being told to do, Kieren simply stood and stared, waiting for some further direction. Gary pointed to Kieren now. _“I’m a good boy.”_ He repeated, slower now so that the sounds of each syllable could be clearly heard.

Kieren frowned. _“I’m… a good boy…”_

_“Say it again!”_

The sounds feeling odd and foreign in his mouth, Kieren repeated the phrase, attempting to say it faster so as to sound more natural. _“I’m a good boy.”_ He drew in a deep breath now and waited, watching for Gary’s reaction and finding himself subconsciously seeking his approval.

Gary nodded. _“Good.”_ He pointed to Kieren at that, smiling. _“Ye hear that? I said good. You did good. Good boy!”_ He reached out and patted Kieren on the head, who flinched, surprised by the touch but leaning into it a bit, because it was gentle and kind and a nice change of pace from the yanking and tugging that he had endured yesterday. _“I’ll be off now. Philip will bring you something to eat, and by tomorrow you’ll be in the shop. Sound good?”_ Obviously not expecting a response, Gary turned and left without another word after that, locking the door to the cage behind him and leaving Kieren there alone.

A short while later, another wingless human, this one a bit younger, approached. _“H- Hello!”_ Unsurprisingly, he also spoke in the language Kieren could not understand. “I’m Philip!” He smiled and unlocked the cage, but did not enter. Rather, he simply set down a tray of food before closing and locking the door again. _“Eat up, okay?”_

Kieren blinked, staring at the human. Hesitantly, he thought back to the words he had been taught and said, _“Good to... meet you…”_

Philip looked up with surprise at that. _“What’s that? Er, right! You too!”_ He smiled awkwardly, and waved before quickly exiting, leaving Kieren alone as he walked down the hallway and to the office where Gary currently sat, reading over a long list in his hand.

As Philip entered, Gary looked up. _“You still scared of the Avi, mate? They’re just animals. They look like people, but they’re not. Besides, with the drug in ‘em, they wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”_

_“Well, they… they seem pretty smart to me. That one you caught yesterday, the one I brought breakfast to? He can already speak.”_ Philip insisted nervously, chewing on his inner cheek and glancing back the way he had come.

Gary laughed. _“Nah, just parroting me. Taught him a few words this morning. You know people are impressed when they see Avi speak. They think it’s cute and shit. But he’s got a cute face, I think he’ll sell fast regardless.”_ He handed the list he had been reading to Philip now. _“Finished compilin’ all of the Avi that haven’t been sold yet. It’s a work in progress, but it’ll work for now. Go check on them, I have an appointment in just a few minutes.”_

xxx

Kieren wasn’t sure how much later it was when Gary returned to his cage once more. Philip had returned earlier as well, bringing food yet again, but other than that he had been entirely alone all day. He stood up now as Gary approached and gave a small smile, looking attentive as possible in an awkward attempt to show obedience. Gary chuckled as he unlocked the cage door. _“You ready to go, then?”_ he asked. Kieren did not understand, and he wasn’t sure what to make of the grin on the man’s face. However, suddenly a leash was being pulled from Gary’s pocket, and the next thing he knew he was being lead out of the cell.

“Where are we going?” Kieren wondered aloud, already knowing that he wouldn’t get an answer, knowing that they did not speak each other’s languages.

_“Yer sure are talkative, huh?”_ Gary gave a slight tug at the leash and Kieren frowned, wondering what that had meant and if he was in trouble. He didn’t want to be in trouble… He decided to go quiet for now. _“I’m gonna just check up on a few more things, and then you’ll be good to go!”_

Kieren was taken to a small room where he was inspected thoroughly by Gary and a few others. His wings were brushed and groomed, which admittedly felt nice, and the injured one was bandaged up. He had light shown in his eyes, mouth, and ears, which was intimidating and disorienting, and he was prodded here and there by odd objects, medical equipment he had never seen before.

The checkup ended with three injections, which Kieren unsurprisingly found much less pleasurable than the grooming from earlier, but he did little to complain or fight them back. He didn’t want to struggle, didn’t feel like he had it in him. Part of him even wanted to please the flightless, but he could not figure out why, or why it should matter.

Either way, Kieren quickly grew accustomed to the meaning and usage of the phrase _“good boy.”_ He didn’t understand its exact definition, of course, but he came to find that the term was almost always accompanied with a smile and a pat on the head or stroke of a wing and he could tell it was a good thing.

After this, Kieren was lead out of the room and down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door. On the other side of the door was a huge, brightly lit room. There were shelves upon shelves of items here. Kieren recognized some of them: Leashes and collars were hung on racks and sat on shelves. There were also clothing like what he currently wore, but in different colors, identical to normal flightless clothing except for large, deliberately placed holes in the back, large enough to fit wings through.

On other shelves were toys, bright colored balls and various stuffed animals. Kieren had never seen stuffed animals before, but he did recognized the species of many of them, rabbits and deer and mice. And in the very front of the room was a door and windows. _Huge_ windows. Outside, Kieren could see the dark black street. A few of those large metal machines sped past, but other than that, there was nothing. The sky was dark. It was late.

Kieren was too distracted by the appearance of the interior of the huge building to care about Gary tugging him into another cage, this one much smaller than the last. He could not walk around in it, but was forced to either stand or sit, wings pressed to his back. The cage was off to the side of the room, but it was still out in the open enough that he felt very exposed, trapped here and unable to move.

_“You hang in there now. Tomorrow after breakfast the store will open and everyone will get to see yer pretty face!”_ Gary said, opening the cage to unleash Kieren, but leaving the collar on just as before. Kieren sat down on the ground, pulling his knees to his chest and watching Gary curiously, silent. “Good boy.” He gave Kieren’s wing a light, gentle tug, fingers roughly running through the top feathers, and Kieren’s heart fluttered a bit with pride, still not understanding the phrase but knowing by now the positive connotation it had to it.

However, the cage was shut after that, and Gary turned, exiting back through the door they had come and leaving Kieren alone in the huge, empty store. Kieren didn’t like this. He felt alone here. He could see the street outside, through the huge window, and saw the totally foreign world before him. Around him, on shelves, were items he had never seen before, and here he was, trapped and alone in a tiny cage.

He wanted Gary, or even Philip, or _anyone_ to come back and save him. He wanted to be protected. Kieren swallowed hard, squeezing his knees and drawing them even closer to his chest, before leaning back against the cold metal bars and closing his eyes. It was clear he would not be getting out today. The least he could do was try to sleep.

xxx

In the morning, Kieren was woken up to the sound of a door opening and someone entering. _“Er, breakfast!”_ A voice called, gently tapping the bars of the cage. Kieren opened tired eyes, his back sore from the small space he had slept in and his wings cramped from being kept so tightly against his back. Philip was there, holding a bowl. _“Eat up, alright?”_ He opened the cage and handed the bowl to Kieren. It was full of berries. He looked up at Philip with a grateful smile.

“You can’t understand me either, can you? Do you know how long I’m going to be stuck in here?” he asked hesitantly, standing up and stretching as best as he could in the small space before tentatively trying one of the berries. They were small and red and sweet.

Philip shifted uncomfortably. _“What’re you trying to say?”_ he asked. _“Look, Gary’ll be here soon to open up for the day. Alright?”_ Considering the fact that Kieren did not understand a word of this, he did not respond, but Philip left immediately after this anyway, leaving him alone with his breakfast.

In the daylight, Kieren noticed, there was a bit more activity going on outside of the large window. Flightless people walked past, occasionally glancing in but usually walking onwards without giving the building a second thought. They came in all shapes and sizes, Kieren thought. And they did not seem evil or dangerous. Many of them walked in groups, talking amongst themselves with smiles on their faces.

Kieren also noticed with surprise that many wingless people had animals with them. They looked a bit like wolves and foxes, but most of them were smaller, and they walked on leashes and had collars around their necks, just like he did. Absentmindedly, he reached up, touching the leather collar around his own neck. He hadn’t always had that on him…

_“Collar on too tight, mate?”_

Kieren jumped with surprise at the sound of another voice. He turned to see Gary enter through the back door. _“You sleep well? Big day ahead of ya,”_ He grinned at Kieren before walking to the front of the store, and Kieren nervously returned the smile. Gary then took out a key and unlocked the door, and flipped a sign.

Kieren could not read it, but on one side, the sign said CLOSED, and on the other - the one he had just flipped to - it said OPEN. Gary then walked back to the opposite end of the store and flicked a switch, causing the whole interior to be lit up. The store was officially open for the day.

Now, Gary walked to Kieren. _“You be a good boy, understand? Impress the customers for me.”_ He reached through the bars to stroke one of his wings, and Kieren forced a nervous smile.

Slowly, people entered the building. Kieren was absolutely fascinated by even the most minimal of encounters, by even seeing people walk past him or talk amongst themselves. Some simply looked around, occasionally taking collars off of hooks to admire them or inspecting the large wing holes on the back of the shirts. Some would walk to the back, to the counter, and talk to whoever was there.

Usually, it was Gary, but Kieren noticed him leave throughout the day, oftentimes with other flightless who had entered the store following behind him, only to be replaced by someone else who would take over.

But _everyone_ stopped to look at Kieren.

It was overwhelming, really. And a bit scary. Even with clothing on, he felt very exposed, stuck in a small cage out in the open for so many strangers to stare. They murmured things among themselves in the language he could not understand and some even hesitantly reached out to touch him, fingers brushing the feathers of his wings and making him flinch.

He did not know how he felt. Truth be told, he had not been particularly certain of his emotions since he had come here, and he did not remember why. His mind raced, but his emotions and thoughts felt blocked off, as if barred from him for some unknown reason, and he could do nothing but stand and stare, letting the world happen around him. And he was totally dependent on the wingless people who took care of him.

xxx

Simon came in at around two.

He looked around, standing in the doorway awkwardly in a large, fuzzy, green sweater. Hands fidgeting a bit at his sides, his eyes trailed over the entirety of the interior of the building before stepping fully inside and walking to the counter in the back. Currently, Gary was there, and he raised a brow as he saw the Irishman approaching.

_“Can I help you?”_

Simon nodded and looked around again. Sounding vaguely distracted, he replied with, _“I actually had a question. For a friend. You do that here, don’t you?”_

_“Do what? Answer questions? That depends, doesn’t it?”_

Simon seemed unamused. He tapped his fingers on the counter now, eyeing Gary for a moment, before saying, _“What do Avi eat? Are they carnivores? Can anything in particular hurt their stomachs?”_

Gary shook his head at that. _“No, Avi will eat anything. They’re like goats, honestly. Put it in front of them and they’ll eat it. I wouldn’t risk things that’re known for hurting pets, though. Chocolate would be too much of a risk. We usually feed ‘em fruit here since we know they eat that in their natural habitat. Makes ‘em feel more at home.”_

Nodding at that, Simon took a moment to process the information he had been given by looking around the store absentmindedly again. _“Never been in here,”_ he admitted, changing the subject. _“Only heard about it. Seems like just a normal pet store. Only thing different about it is the species you’re selling for… Like I said, though, I only needed to know for a friend is all-”_ Simon suddenly went silent.

His eyes had landed on the small cage near the corner, and like everyone else today, he stopped and stared with widened eyes.

_“Is that an Avi?”_

Kieren stared back at Gary and the stranger with the dark hair, wondering what they were talking about. They were both looking at him, the stranger with wide eyes and Gary with a grin, and he soon grew self conscious and looked down, biting his lip and trying to ignore the eyes on him.

Gary chuckled. _“It is. Our newest one, actually. Put him on display today. Never seen one with barn owl wings before, thought he’d get some customers’ attention.”_

The man walked over to Kieren now, and Kieren swallowed, nervous and shy. He did not know what he should do. He was not afraid of this man in particular - he honestly did not seem like much of a threat at all, and he was even rather intriguing, he thought. But for the first time since the store had opened, no one else was around. It was just him, Gary, and this strange man, who stared at him, absolutely _mesmerized._

_“He looks like a person, huh?”_

Gary nodded and walked over. _“Yeah, they all do. But y’know they aren’t. Haven’t got that kind of mental capacity. Any resemblance to humans is purely physical.”_ Then he grinned and nudged Simon. “Look at this.” He walked forward and tapped on one of the cage bars. _“Oi, Avi! Why don’t you tell this gentleman that it’s good to meet him?”_ Voice going quiet, so as not to let Simon overhear and ruin the illusion of Kieren saying the words on his own accord, he breathed out, _“Say, ‘its good to meet you’, just like we practiced, eh?”_

Kieren blinked, recognizing those sounds, remembering saying them earlier but not knowing their meaning, as he echoed awkwardly, _“It’s good to meet you.”_

Simon’s eyes went wide and he turned to Gary. _“They speak English?”_

Gary shook his head and laughed at that. _“Not really, no. Just let out a bunch of squawks most of the time. But you can teach them, like a parrot. They’ll mimic things back if you train them.”_

Simon hummed at that and stared at Kieren once more, who took a step back only to find his back hit the bars behind him. He did not know what to make of this interaction, finding it more intimate than the others but feeling just as exposed and shy as before. But there was something about this flightless that truly intrigued him, made him want to stare at his face and into his eyes and even talk to him, if communication between their species was possible.

And Simon was smart. He was smart enough to know that even an animal didn’t belong on display in a tiny cage. And Kieren seemed frightened. He looked so out of place and lost here, like he didn’t understand at all what was going on. And Simon felt bad for him. And curious.

And all of that aside, Kieren was _gorgeous._

_“So he’s… for sale, then?”_ Simon didn’t even think about his own question as he asked it, mind still wandering even as the words left his mouth.

Gary nodded eagerly. _“Course he is. I’d even be willing to cut some sort of deal with you, if you wanted to buy now. You can go home right now with your very own bird. Sound appealing?”_

Simon gave the question more thought than it probably needed. He stared at Kieren again, in awe of him. His eyes were huge and dark and wide with confusion and fear. His wings were stunning, bright and creamy with those small dark flecks throughout. And he was staring at Simon, inquisitive and curious.

And Simon was sympathetic, he supposed. Because he knew the fear that came with a cage, that came with being trapped and afraid and unaware of what was happening in the world around you. And he did not want someone like this, this gorgeous creature, to experience that fear any longer.

So he turned to Gary again and nodded, a small smile on his face. _“Yeah, I think I’ll take him.”_


	4. Chapter 4

Kieren did not know why he was uncaged. He hadn’t understood the conversation between the two flightless, but he was not complaining when he was taken out of the tiny holding space. Gary took a leash from his pocket and immediately he was attached to it, and he was lead to the back door and down the hallway.

_“Avi are tricky creatures. Easy to take care of, but they take awhile to understand.”_ Gary was saying, and Kieren wondered what they were talking about. Simon was following behind them, which was odd. What was he doing here? _“There are a few things you need to know in advance.”_

Kieren bit his lip, nervous, as Gary tugged him into a small office. He looked around, curiously eyeing the books and papers that sat around. Simon stood in front of the desk and watched as Gary went through these books and papers, and took one out, beginning to write on it. Kieren watched this with his brow furrowed, trying to figure out what he was doing. He had never seen a paper and pen before.

_“They get sick easily, their immune system isn’t as developed as ours. You’ll need to bring him back here once every two weeks for a special injection that should take care of that. That’s completely free.”_ Gary said. _“Don’t ever release them into the wild. They can’t handle that, and they’ll end up dying. If you decide you don’t want yer bird anymore, just give him back to us.”_

Simon turned to face Kieren now as Gary continued to talk, explaining more things that he only cared vaguely about and that Kieren could not begin to understand. Just as Gary was getting into the legal reasons that one could only own a single Avi, Simon cut him off suddenly with, _“Does he have a name?”_

Gary looked up at that before beginning to laugh. _“A name? No, they can’t name themselves. Not smart enough for something like that. You can name him yourself.”_

Simon’s brow furrowed at that and he stared at Kieren for a moment longer. Kieren took a step back, wings folding in front of him just a bit, as if trying to hide himself. When Simon’s eyes still did not leave him, he said quietly, “I don’t speak your language.”

Gary laughed again and pointed to Kieren. _“See, that’s what I mean! They talk like that. Sounds a little like a crow or something, doesn’t it?”_

Simon frowned. It sounded pretty to him, he thought. Not like any other language he had ever heard before. He shook his head and was about to ask another question when Gary stood up. _“I need you to fill out some paperwork. Back in a sec!”_ He took the end of Kieren’s leash and tied it to a small hook on his desk, and turned to Simon. _“You keep an eye on him, right?”_ Then he had walked away.

With Simon and Kieren alone in the small office now, Simon’s attention was once more fully on the winged human before him. Hesitantly, he pointed to himself. _“My name is Simon.”_ he said slowly. Then, pointing again, he repeated, _“Simon.”_

Then he pointed to Kieren.

Kieren blinked, watching Simon’s hands, confused. _“Simon?”_

Simon shook his head and pointed to himself for once more. _“Simon.”_ he said again. Then he pointed at Kieren, and smiled.

And Kieren understood. He pointed to himself, copying Simon’s motion, and replied back with, “Kieren.”

Simon gasped. Then his smile widened just a bit, just for a moment, and he nodded. “Kieren?” he asked, pointing to the other again. “ _Your name is_ Kieren?”

Kieren nodded eagerly, absolutely overwhelmed over the fact that he was hearing his own name for the first time in days. He smiled and took a step forward, pointing to himself eagerly. “Kieren, my name is Kieren, yes! I’m Kieren Walker.” And then, connecting more dots in his head, he added, “And your name is _Simon.”_

Simon’s eyebrows rose as, amidst the sounds he could not understand, he recognized his own name. He nodded. _“I’m Simon. You’re_ Kieren.” he pointed to each of them as he said it. Kieren smiled, nodding again.

Gary walked back in.

_“You sure you want to buy him? This is your last chance to back out. You can return him after this, but we don’t offer refunds once the paperwork is filled out.”_

Simon smiled and said, _“His name is_ Kieren.”

Gary turned at that, raising an eyebrow. _“Huh? Alright, then.”_ He shrugged. _“Don’t expect me to remember that. We’ve sold about seventy Avi, I’m constantly working with them and answering questions and giving shots. Haven’t got the time for remembering each individual name.”_

Simon’s expression remained blank, but a flicker of anger could be seen clearly in his eyes, and he hummed thoughtfully at this remark. _“Where’s that paperwork you mentioned? I’d like to fill it out now. I have things to do today, I don’t want to be here forever.”_ Gary’s attitude was getting irritating a bit too quickly.

Luckily enough, Simon and Kieren did not have to stay much longer. With Kieren on a leash, because apparently that would keep him from trying to run away (and it occurred to Simon that Kieren should have been strong enough to resist a leash, but he supposed if it worked, it worked, and some animals were just funny like that), he led him out of the store and out into the open.

This was the first time since arriving here that Kieren had been outside, and he was instantly stunned by the brightness. The sky above them was bright blue, and the sun was out. It was warm and pleasant, and there were _sounds_ everywhere. The odd metal machines made whirring noises as they sped down the street, and he could hear the voices of all of the flightless who spoke to each other as they passed them on the sidewalk.

_“My car is just down here,”_ Simon said, and Kieren did not know what that meant but he followed along. He trusted Simon, at least as much as someone could trust another after only just meeting them. But he had been the first of the flightless to know his name, and the first of the flightless to even try to communicate with him, and he felt more at peace with him than he had with Gary and the others.

They came to a small black metal machine. Kieren frowned as they stopped in front of it. _Small_ was only fitting when used in comparison with the rest of the machines. The truth was, all of them, even this small one, was huge.

And Kieren watched with absolute awe as Simon got _inside_ of it.

He opened the door and got in, sitting down, looking at Kieren, who still stood on the pavement with wide eyes. Kieren looked around as if expecting someone to try to stop him. “Is it safe…?”

Simon chuckled. _“What’re you saying?”_ he asked, amused, as he got out of the car once more. He walked to the passenger side and opened that up, and then took hold of Kieren’s leash (oops, he thought, he hadn’t even realized he’d let it go) and tugged him over, giving him a gentle nudge forward. _“Come on, get in. We need to drive home.”_

Kieren looked at Simon, nervous and hesitant. He shook his head, flat out refusing at first, but Simon gave him another nudge and finally he sat down. The inside of the machine, he found, was actually rather nice, with soft chairs to sit on. Simon got in once more, beside him, and took something small and shiny from his pocket and inserted it into a hole in the car. It came to life, lighting up and letting out a loud sound and beginning to vibrate, and Kieren squeaked, covering his mouth and folding his wings over himself protectively. 

Simon laughed with amusement and adoration. _“Hey, it’s okay. You never been in a car before? You’re fine.”_ He reached over to pet Kieren’s wings, fingers brushing over the feathers gently. _“You’ll be alright. Er…”_ What did you say to something like Kieren? What did you usually say to a pet? _“Good boy.”_

Kieren’s eyes lit up, recognizing the words immediately and staring at Simon. He smiled a bit, lowering his wings back down. _“Good boy,”_ he repeated, nodding. 

Relieved that these words were met with approval, Simon laughed again. _“That’s right._ Kieren _is a good boy.”_

After that, Simon began to drive. Kieren began to grow wary once again, not sure of what was going on and instantly feeling terribly sick and scared as the car picked up speed. They were moving fast, and when he looked out the window he could see other cars beside them, moving equally fast. He was overwhelmed, the quick pace making it impossible for him to take it all in. 

Then, Simon slowed down, and came to a halt. Kieren turned to look at him, confused. They were in a line of cars. _“I need to stop to get food for that Avi I saw earlier,”_ he explained, well aware that Kieren could not understand but using him as an excuse for talking out loud. _“I hope she’s still there.”_

The cars in front of Simon pulled forward, so he did as well, and Kieren watched curiously as he pulled up to a small box. 

_“Hey, good afternoon! What can I get for you?”_

A voice, slightly muffled, came from the box, and Kieren jumped with surprise and stared, trying to figure out how that was possible. Simon, however, did not seem fazed. He began to talk, saying words that Kieren could not recognize, before he drove forward as well. They came to a window, where a man handed Simon two bags, and then Simon drove away. 

He handed one of the bags to Kieren as he got back onto the road. _“That’s a blueberry muffin. Open it up and try it, huh?”_

Kieren frowned, staring between Simon and the bag in his hand. Then he began to inspect it, prodding it and turning it different directions to figure out what he was to do with it, before he found the opening at the top of the bag. He hesitantly placed his hand in and furrowed his brow, pulling the muffin out a moment later to stare at it. It was some sort of food, he noted. He glanced at Simon. 

_“It’s good, try it.”_ Simon smiled. _“Muffin,_ Kieren. _That’s a muffin.”_

_“Muff… in.”_ Kieren nodded. Then, nervously, he took a small bite out of it. The texture was odd, different than any of the food he had eating before, strangely soft and light. But it tasted good, he thought, and he gave a small nod of approval before taking another bite. Simon kept his eyes on the road for the most part, but he did glance to Kieren to smile at and admire him every so often. 

When the car stopped again, it was by an alley. Kieren frowned, looking at Simon curiously, as he said, _“Wait here,”_ and got out with another bag in his hand, like the one Kieren’s muffin had been in. He walked around the car and down the alley and Kieren sat up in his seat curiously, looking out the front window of the car. Suddenly, his eyes went wide with shock and he gasped. 

There was another person there. One like him. She had long blonde hair and large, snow-white wings with black speckles throughout them. Simon approached her, and Kieren noticed how cautious he was, as if afraid of her. Kieren watched from the car as he said a few words to her and took another muffin from the bag and showed it to her before putting it back in. She took the bag with the muffin, and then Simon was walking back over to Kieren and climbing into the car once more. 

_“Saw her out here earlier today, she’s the reason I stopped by the Avi store in the first place. Didn’t expect to be bringing you home.”_ Simon smiled at Kieren, who was still staring at the winged woman in front of him. Did she know him? Would they be able to communicate? How did she get there? 

Kieren did not have much time to think, and had no way to ask, for Simon now started the car back up and began to drive away. Kieren bit his lip and turned to Simon, staring at him, wishing he could talk to him. He had given her food, just like he had given _him_ food. _Why?_

Soon, Simon stopped the car for a third and final time. Kieren had spent the final part of the drive lost in thought, but as Simon tapped him on the shoulder he was pulled from his own head and turned to look at him curiously. Simon smiled again. _“We’re home, come on.”_ He got out of the car, but Kieren made no move to leave, so he walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for him. _“Come on,_ Kieren.” 

Kieren smiled a bit at the sound of his own name and after a moment of hesitance, trying to figure out if this was really what Simon wanted, he climbed out of the car, stretching his wings and looking around. He turned to face the house in front of him. It was small, but he liked it, he thought. It wasn’t intimidating and huge like the place he had been kept in before. He didn’t feel at all uneasy as Simon took him by the hand and led him to the front door, the leash connected to his collar having been forgotten. 

After entering the house and looking around, Kieren did his best to take everything in. The place was small and a bit messy, with odd items that he did not recognize, papers and books mainly, scattered here and there. But he liked the look of it, and the small size kept him from feeling lost or overwhelmed by everything. 

Simon let go of Kieren and walked to the kitchen, which was connected to the front of the house. _“Do you want anything to eat? I know you ate a bit in the car, but something else?”_ Kieren had no idea what Simon said, but he followed him over to the other area, watching him curiously, silent. Simon opened a few cabinets, going through his things for a moment, before opening a large white box. There was food _everywhere,_ Kieren thought, eyes wide. Vaguely, he remembered thick forests and hard-to-find berries, and hunting down rabbits for hours in hopes of catching them off guard. He hadn’t always had this much food… 

But he wasn’t thinking about that now. Instead, he was watching as Simon pulled a bright red item from the white box and held it out to Kieren. _“How about this? An apple.”_ Kieren hesitantly accepted the item. _“Apple,_ Kieren. _It’s an apple.”_

Knowing what Simon expected of him by now, he nodded. _“A… pple.”_ He repeated slowly, looking at the red item in his hand before taking a nervous bite of it. It was fruit, he realized. Some sort of fruit that he had not seen before, and extremely sweet. He gave Simon a smile to show he was pleased with the item, before looking around the house again. 

“We’ll need to get you some more clothes. I’d let you borrow my pajamas tonight, but your wings wouldn’t fit.” Simon said, and Kieren wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t understand a word he said anyway. _“Right now, ah… you could use a bath, probably.”_

xxx 

Amy was wandering in the back alleys, because few flightless came here and it gave her a chance to hide and think. She had to get into that building and save Kieren. She had to. And the quicker the better. But she could not just charge in. She knew what kind of weapons the flightless had, knew how dangerous they were, and she wasn’t about to try a direct approach. At least not yet. She had to be smart with this. 

So she had hid in the trees, but she had, eventually, been noticed. She wasn’t sure if the flightless who had seen her had noticed her wings or was simply upset that there was a girl hiding in a tree, but she had flown away, making a quick escape, and landing in the first secluded place she could find - behind a large building, in an alley. 

And that was where she had fallen asleep, and where she had spent the last day. And she was starving. But she could not risk going out and being seen again. 

That was when she found Zoe. 

She had risked leaving her small corner and looking around, making sure to stay in the alleys but brave enough to explore just a bit. She had heard movement suddenly, and panic had swept over her at first, but as she turned a corner, fear had turned to shock and then relief at what she saw. 

Another winged person was there. A blonde woman with white, black-flecked wings. But she wore odd clothing - _flightless human_ clothing, except with large holes in the back, for her wings to fit through. And, Amy noticed with confusion, a collar fastened tightly around her neck. 

“Wh- Who’re you?!” Amy’s eyes were wide, but there was hope and excitement in them. 

The woman turned, and her expression matched Amy’s as she realized what she was. She ran over, grabbing Amy by the wrists and staring at her. “You- You got away too?! Is your mind free yet?” 

“Wh- What?” Amy furrowed her brow at the question. “I- I didn’t get away from anyone, I followed the-” 

“Come back with me!” the woman said now. “We’ll fly back together! I’d been waiting, but I think I’m finally ready!” She laughed with delight. 

Confused, Amy gently pulled free of the woman’s grip and tried again. “My name’s Amy Dyer. Who are you, then?” 

“Zoe. Zoe Kelly. God, it’s amazing I still remember my name. I’ve been here for a whole year, can you believe it? Stuck in this hellhole for a year?” She laughed again, almost bitterly this time. “But I’m leaving tonight. I got away and now I can finally make myself go home. You will come too, right? I know that the flightless mess with our heads, but I promise you, it’s better back home, it really is! I remember it now!” 

Amy shook her head. “What are you _talking_ about?! I need to find my friend!” she explained. “H- He was taken away by the flightless, and I know where they’re keeping him. Do you know anything about how I could help him?” 

“You can’t worry about anyone else, Amy.” Zoe said, smiling. “You need to worry about yourself. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Any minute now _Gary_ could come find us and take us back and we’d be just the way we were before. We’d lose everything, just like before. We need to go, come on!” 

“No, you don’t understand! I wasn’t taken!” Amy insisted. “I chose to be here! I need to be here to find my friend. Do you know anyone named Kieren?!” 

But Zoe didn’t answer. Instead, she spread her wings, flapped them a few times, and lifted off into the sky. Amy watched from below, her own ashy blue wings remaining tucked behind her, a look of confusion and exasperation and even a hint of despair on her face. 

“Get out of here, Amy!” Zoe called above her. “Go home!” 

Then she had flown away. And Amy was left alone in the alley. 

But it wasn’t all bad. She searched around where Zoe had been, hoping to find some sort of clue to what that exchange had been about, and found a bag. In it, about three-fourths of a muffin remained. Truth be told, Amy had never seen a muffin before, nor was she entirely sure what it was, but it was the first thing resembling food she had seen in days, and for the first time since she had arrived in this odd new place, she wasn’t starving. 

xxx 

Kieren recognized the shower head as he entered the bathroom, remembering only vaguely the rather shocking experience that was his first shower (it had all been such a blur, he had almost forgotten altogether), and turned to Simon curiously, wondering if he would be reliving that experience. But to his surprise, as Simon walked past him (giving a brief, reassuring smile as he did), he turned on a different faucet. Water began to rush from it, filling up a white tub. He frowned, giving Simon a quizzical look. 

“What is that?” 

Simon chuckled at the question, but Kieren knew he couldn’t understand it. _“You never taken a bath before? I doubt they’d sell you without cleaning you up somehow first.”_ He walked over to Kieren now, ignoring the steadily-filling tub and giving his shirt a tug and eyeing him for a moment. Kieren looked away, cheeks flushing, because Simon’s gaze felt intense and he was a bit too close for comfort. _“You don’t exactly look dirty. But a bath won’t hurt.”_

Then Simon took rim of Kieren’s light grey shirt and pulled on it, gently tugging it up, over his head. His wings were a bit of a hassle, but Kieren managed to tuck them in in a way that allowed the shirt to be lifted up around them, and soon the removed clothing was being set on the counter beside the sink. Simon eyed Kieren for a moment, admiring him. He was thin and his skin was pale and soft-looking, and as he reached to undo his pants, he let his fingers brush gently against his side so he could feel the softness of the flesh himself. Kieren shivered a bit, but made no other movement. 

_“You doing okay?”_ Simon asked, not expecting a response as he pulled down the track pants and helped Kieren step out of them. Kieren instantly felt incredibly exposed, and he curved his wings around to cover the front of his own body as best he could, as if attempting to shield himself from Simon. The flightless human noticed this and frowned, reaching out to gently pet the soft feathers on the outside of Kieren’s wings. _“Hey, it’s alright. I’m just bathing you, okay? Don’t worry. Good boy.”_

Kieren swallowed, wings lowering a bit at the words and looking at Simon with doubt. But he did trust him, probably more so than he should have, and he reluctantly nodded and lowered his wings altogether, tucking them behind him nervously. “I’m just not used to something like this,” he tried to explain, looking down with a faint flush to his cheeks. 

Simon didn’t know what Kieren said, but he smiled a bit. _“You okay now?”_ he asked. He noticed the leash, still hanging from the collar around Kieren’s neck, and frowned, unhooking it, before taking Kieren by the hand and leading him to the tub, which was now almost full. _“Get in!”_

Staring between Simon and the tub, Kieren frowned again. Simon sighed and gave Kieren a nudge. _“Go in,_ Kieren. _Get into the bath, okay?”_ He nudged again, and Kieren seemed to understand, for he very, very reluctantly placed a foot into the water. His eyebrows rose with surprise and he turned to Simon, as if silently asking what exactly this was. The water was so _warm…_

Less nervous now, Kieren placed the other foot in the water, so that he was standing in the tub. Simon laughed a bit. _“Great. Now sit down, okay?”_ He pressed down on Kieren’s shoulder and nodded towards the ground, and eventually Kieren took the hint and sat down in the tub, letting out a little pleased sound as the warm water enveloped his body. 

Simon turned the faucet off now and sat down on the toilet seat beside the tub, watching Kieren as he adjusted to the feeling of a bath. Kieren looked young, he thought. Did Avi age the same way humans did? If so, Kieren could not have been older than twenty. But he could have been younger, too. Eighteen or nineteen, maybe. And Simon felt a little weird then, because he would be thirty in about three years. 

But it wasn’t like he and Kieren would be _doing_ anything. He was a pet. His age didn’t matter, because all he was was a pet. 

Feeling a little odd, Simon took a deep breath before he stood up and asked, _“You like that?”_ Kieren looked up at Simon but said nothing, and Simon smiled. _“Here, I’ll wash your wings.”_ He knelt down in front of the tub now, and Kieren watched him from where he sat. He cupped his hands and dipped them into the water, then gently poured the gathered water onto the top of one of Kieren’s wings. He then ran his fingers through the feathers, admiring the softness. 

_“You’ll let me know if anything hurts, won’t you?”_ Simon asked now, repeating the gesture again, gently pouring a small amount of water onto the wing. As he shifted a bit to administer the same treatment to the other one he frowned, just now noticing the bandage near the top of the wing. _“You’re hurt?”_

Hesitantly he reached for the bandaged wing and touched it, and Kieren flinched a bit. _“What happened to you?”_ Simon wondered aloud. The bandage itself was hard to notice, the white color blending with the creamy white feathers and only around the upper part, where he had been shot. Simon did not remove the bandage, but instead worked around that area, and focused on gently washing different parts. Kieren closed his eyes, finding himself growing incredibly relaxed between the feel of the warm water all around him and Simon’s gentle touches. 

Simon took a bar of soap next, and washed Kieren’s body, covering every inch he could reach of exposed, soft skin with bubbles. This was much slower, much more deliberate and gentle and caring, than the treatment he had received during his shower at the other building, and Kieren happily leaned into Simon’s touches, allowing himself to be washed and cleaned by the soapy bubbles. 

_“That feel good?”_ Simon asked with a chuckle. He reached up to run a hand through Kieren’s hair. _“Good boy. You’re doing really good.”_ Kieren lit up at the praise, turning to look at Simon with wide, dark eyes. 

Sadly, the bath did not last much longer, and soon Simon had stood up and reached a hand out to Kieren, helping pull him up so that he was standing once more. _“There, all clean now! You feeling okay?”_ There was a towel hanging on a rack on the wall which he picked up. He gently tugged Kieren out of the tub, and then wrapped the towel around his shoulders, where it caught on his wings and did little to actually dry him. Simon laughed, and realizing that he could not easily wrap up in a towel, he instead decided to dry him himself. 

Kieren’s wings were an incredible hassle to get dry, he soon found. They absorbed liquids like a sponge, so that they were practically pouring water, and towels did little to dry them off. Finally, he made a promise to buy a blow dryer, because maybe that would help a bit, and he focused on drying the other parts of Kieren’s body. Kieren did little to stop or help him, simply standing there, nervously letting Simon do what he wanted. 

_“Do you know how to put your clothes on?”_ Simon asked when the job was done, setting the dripping towel on the ground. He picked up the clothes he had worn before. _“We’ll need to go out and get you more things. For now, these are the only clothes I have that your wings fit through.”_ He handed the shirt to Kieren, who just looked at it, not knowing what to do with it. 

Again, Simon found himself doing most of the work, not that he minded, as he helped Kieren back into his shirt and pants. Then he lead him out of the room and to the bedroom, where he had Kieren sit down on the bed. 

Kieren, having never seen a bed in his life, was immediately stunned by it. It was _soft_ , and he pressed his hand into the mattress with wide, curious eyes. His wings dripped a bit still, dampening the sheets, but Simon could care less as he watched with a smile as the other explored the new piece of furniture. He looked back up at Simon, a curious expression on his face. 

_"You like that? You can sleep on it with me tonight.”_ Simon said. That wouldn’t be weird, right? Kieren was a pet. People shared beds with their pets all the time. _“Not now, though. It’s still early.”_ He glanced to the clock. It was just past four thirty. 

Kieren was sitting up and looking around as well now. Was this where he was staying from now on, then? Or would he be taken away to somewhere else sometime soon? The thought made him frown, not liking that idea at all. He didn’t want to leave… Simon was nice to him, and this place was nice, and he felt safer here than he ever had with Gary and the others. He looked to Simon now with inquisitive eyes, studying him. 

“Why are you so nice to me?” he asked, aware that with the language barrier between them like it was, he was not doing much more than thinking aloud. 

Simon smiled. _“What’s up?”_ he asked, walking over and sitting down beside Kieren on the bed. He gazed at him, and like before Kieren felt his cheeks warm up just a bit, not sure what to do with the flightless man staring at him like that. _“You need anything,_ Kieren?" 

Obviously, Kieren did not give a response to this, but Simon continued talking anyway. Looking down now, between his feet and Kieren’s, he breathed a soft sigh and said, _“I hope you’re happy here. Maybe it’s too early to tell, but I want you to be. You looked so… alone in that cage at the store.”_ He looked at Kieren with a small smile. _“I know how it feels, though. Really. I mean, not literally, not in a cage like you. But to be trapped like that? It’s scary as hell. You feel hopeless. I didn’t want that for you.”_

Kieren could not understand, but he listened to the sound of Simon’s voice, mesmerized. He sounded so sincere, so kind and caring and gentle, and Kieren loved it, especially compared to the harshness of what he had heard back at the store from Gary. He closed his eyes and leaned into Simon, resting his head on his shoulder and sleepily draping a wing over him. 

Simon watched this response with surprise, not sure what it meant, but assuming it was good. _“If I can do anything for you, I want to give you a better life. Let you feel like you aren’t some prisoner in a cage. I’ll take care of you.”_ He reached around to gently pet one of Kieren’s wings. _“Good boy.”_ Kieren opened his eyes briefly at that, looking up at Simon’s face for a moment with a smile. 

Simon ended up spending a good portion of the rest of the evening on his laptop in the living room with Kieren beside him, leaning against him and watching him work with curiosity, trying to understand how the odd machine worked or what Simon was doing tap, tap, tapping away on it. 

Eventually he made dinner, which was microwavable mac-n-cheese. Although it was cheap and quick, Kieren was fascinated by the entire process, watching with curiosity as the box was set in the microwave and looking almost concerned as it started up, the food rotating and the machine making a loud sound. The fact that it was _warm_ when it came out was equally fascinating to Kieren, who was hesitant to even eat it at first, unable to figure out what had been done to it. 

Simon found Kieren’s reactions both amusing and entrancing. He was so pretty, and all of his reactions were so interesting to see. And it gave him a new view of the world, for he was suddenly hyper aware of his surroundings, trying to imagine his own home through the eyes of his pet. 

Soon after, Simon brought Kieren back to his room. Simon got ready for bed, slipping into pajamas and brushing his teeth, making a mental note that he would have to get a toothbrush for Kieren in the near future and a pair of pajamas as well, before going back to his room and laying down for the night. It took a bit of convincing, but soon enough, Kieren, too, was laying down, just a ways away from Simon on the small bed, gazing at him with wide, curious eyes and shifting around occasionally, still getting used to the softness of the bed beneath him. 

Simon did not say anything, knew that there was nothing he could say that Kieren would understand, but he stared back for awhile, admiring Kieren’s pretty face, his deep brown eyes and expressive eyebrows and long, golden eyelashes. He was so pretty. 

Simon fell asleep not long after this, and after watching him for a bit longer, Kieren, overwhelmed by the many events of the day and too exhausted to think, soon fell asleep as well.


	5. Chapter 5

_“How much longer, Rick?”_

_“Not much, Ren. Hang on, okay? We’re almost there.” Ahead of him, Kieren could see the huge, powerful gold and chestnut wings of his future mate. His own wings, tinted pink in the light of the setting sun, were beginning to ache._

_“We’ve been flying for hours, Rick!”_

_The figure up ahead of him laughed. “Stop being such a baby! It’s worth it, I promise! Prettiest place I’ve ever seen in m’whole life.” He slowed down a bit, practically unmoving in the air as he waited for Kieren to catch up with him. Once Kieren had caught up he sped up again, but did not move too fast. Instead, he stayed by the other’s side as they flew. “Was hunting a deer when I found it. Thought, ‘this place would be romantic as hell to take Ren to.’”_

_Kieren laughed at that. “What, are you becoming a romantic now? Maybe all of the stories they say are true. Mating really does change you for the worse. You’re becoming boring!” He flew into Rick, purposely shoving into him, as if trying to knock him out of the sky. Rick shoved him back._

_“What, d’you not wanna be my mate, then?” Rick grinned. “Maybe your parents are right. You’re too young to make such a big decision! Li’l baby Ren can barely even catch a rabbit, how in the world could he ever make a decision like who he’ll spend the rest of his life with?!”_

_Rolling his eyes at that, Kieren replied, “Simple. The difference is that catching rabbits is exhausting. I feel like shit after I hunt rabbits. And I mean, you’re also exhausting, but at least I don’t feel like shit when I’m around you.”_

Kieren woke up suddenly, opening his eyes wide and finding himself in complete darkness. He sat up, looking around. “Where am I?!” he asked aloud. Beneath him, whatever he had been sleeping on was soft and he sank down into it, and he was clutching at soft material.

Oh.

Memories flooded back to him in an instant, and he remembered the bed, remembered having fallen asleep on it, remembered sitting on it earlier with Simon. Speaking of Simon… He turned to look, and his eyes met light blue ones. Simon was laying by his side, awake and staring at him.

_“You have a nightmare?”_ he asked, sitting up and reaching for Kieren’s hand, squeezing it. Kieren flinched, giving Simon a confused, hesitant look. Simon yawned. _“D’you need anything,_ Kieren?”

Kieren did not respond. He was staring off into the distance now, lost in thought, trying to remember the dream he had just had. His heart fluttered and he felt happy, but now that he was conscious, he could not remember why, what the source of his happiness had been. He turned to Simon with a furrowed brow, but he said nothing, knowing there was no point in trying to communicate. He was lost and disoriented and a bit scared, now that the dream had ended and whatever had caused his happiness had fled from his mind.

Simon, noticing the fear and confusion on Kieren’s face, moved just a bit closer to Kieren and took him by the arm, guiding him closer. Kieren moved willingly, pressing into Simon’s chest and resting his head against him. Simon hummed and ran his hands through Kieren’s wings, fingers slipping beneath the outer feathers to pet the softer down beneath. Kieren shivered at that and closed his eyes, and Simon, feeling the movement against him, looked down to make sure he was okay, but he did not stop petting his wings, moving his fingers in small circular motions through the feathers.

_“Good boy,_ Kieren. _It’s okay.”_

Kieren smiled, eyes closing as he grew accustomed to Simon’s gentle petting and stroking. His wings relaxed and he eventually all but melted into Simon’s chest, laying against him and becoming practically hypnotized by the slow strokes of Simon’s fingers through his feathers. He fell back to sleep like that, no longer caring about whatever it was that had woken him the first time.

xxx

Philip Wilson was twenty-three. Admittedly, he had never loved animals. It wasn’t like he disliked them, but he felt no desire to spend the rest of his life working with them. But at the same time, money had been tight and when posters first showed up around town advertising a job opening at a new, exotic pet store a year ago, he figured it would be worth at least investigating.

As it turned out, “exotic” did not even _begin_ to describe the pets being sold at this new store. They were creatures called Avi, apparently discovered by Gary Kendal, a hunter who had stumbled upon a nest by chance. And they looked like people, save for the huge, feathered wings on their backs. But they could not speak English, and they were said to have only basic intelligence, no more so than a dog or a cat. They were the perfect pets for those who craved companionship without obligation. At least, no more obligation than any other basic house pet.

Philip was fascinated. And a bit horrified.

But he had also, apparently, been perfect for the job. Because he got the job, and a week later he was coming to work for the first time as Gary Kendal’s official assistant. He would be working alongside him to care for, train, and sell the Avi.

Today, however, he was not working with any living creature. Gary was out, and he had been told to simply not cause trouble. All of the Avi that had not yet been bought, the ones sitting in cages in the back, had already been tended to, fed and watered and given their injections, if they needed it. Philip was spending his afternoon going through paperwork, making sure anything that had to be signed was signed, there were no unaccounted Avi, no one was trying to sue or accuse them of anything (something Philip was surprised hadn’t happened yet, because animals or not, from an outside perspective this certainly _looked_ like slavery).

Just about half an hour before lunch, it became clear there really was not anything to be done today. He got up now, wandering through the back hallways of the pet store. There were two different restrooms back here, and he stopped at the one nearest to the room where the unsold Avi were kept (the other restroom had a shower in it, and considering it was where the Avi were typically washed, it was usually covered in feathers, if not sometimes blood if the Avi being washed was a new arrival, and he could not help but feel uncomfortable in it).

But he didn’t stop because he had to _use_ it. He stopped because even just by walking past it, he was met with an absolutely disgusting smell. Upon further, extremely hesitant investigation, it became apparent that the restroom was not in usable condition.

Quickly exiting (and forcing himself not to gag), Philip proceeded to tape an “OUT OF ORDER” sign to the front of the door before going on his way.

xxx

Simon was not keen on leaving Kieren alone the next morning. But he also was not sure he wanted to call and explain that he was taking a day off of work because he wanted to stay with his new pet. He spent a great deal of time in the morning, while making breakfast (Kieren wasn’t sure what to make of French toast, which was frankly rather adorable), thinking over possible ways to rid himself of his worries.

He could always tie him up. He had the leash still. But he didn’t want to do that. If he kept Kieren tied up all day, that wouldn’t be any better than the cage he had been trapped in at the store. He needed Kieren to have freedom. At least enough freedom to move about the house during the day.

_“I’m trusting you, okay? You stay safe. Don’t go anywhere.”_ Simon knew saying it was pointless, knew Kieren could not understand a word of what he said and even if he could, there was no telling if he would actually listen or not. _“I’ll be back for lunch.”_ Kieren was watching as Simon walked to the door, a frown on his face, but he did not say anything. _“Take care of yourself, I won’t be gone long. Good boy!”_

Kieren gave a hesitant smile, not sure what else to do with that, and watched as Simon left, shutting the door and locking it behind him. Now alone, he found himself simply standing, looking around with confusion as he tried to figure out what he was to do with himself.

He eventually settled with exploring the rest of the house. He had no desire to leave. Outside, things were confusing and scary and dangerous. He still did not trust the large metal machines, even if he had used one to get to Simon’s house. He didn’t like how fast and loud they were. And he did not know what other flightless people were like, and feared that they would be less like Simon and more like Gary.

He learned a great deal while exploring, though. Like how to turn a faucet on. It was shocking at first, because he wasn’t sure what he was doing and was just trying to figure out how exactly the bathtub worked, but after momentary panic he did learn how to turn the water on and off without an issue, which he considered a huge personal accomplishment.

He also discovered books, not that he could do anything with them. They were filled with symbols that reminded him vaguely of his own language, and he assumed they were the written alphabet of whatever language it was that Simon and the other flightless people spoke. But considering he could not read them, he only took the time to skim through the pages of a handful of them (Simon had a _lot_ of books) before going on to investigate elsewhere.

Over the next few hours, Kieren would also figure out how to open a refrigerator (and try and greatly dislike raw lettuce, which he tasted out of curiosity), how to turn the microwave on (he set it for three minutes, and quickly became worried there was no way to turn it off), and how to use a human toilet (the most difficult task of the day). Then he would sit on the couch, preening his feathers and resting, wondering if and when Simon would return. The injured wing, he noticed, was starting to feel a bit better.

Simon did return, after what felt like an eternity, and pure relief showed on his face as he saw Kieren still there and in one piece. “Kieren!” he all but ran over as he entered his house. _“Was everything okay?”_

Kieren smiled at Simon, not sure of what he was expected to do but glad to see that the flightless had returned.

_“Good news! I got the rest of the day off. I’m taking you back to the store to get you some supplies. Clothes and stuff.”_ Simon took Kieren’s hand and pulled him up, to his feet, and towards the door. _“We’ll grab lunch out, okay?”_

After lunch, Simon began the drive to the store. Kieren did not make anything of it at first, had not learned the streets of the town or committed any of it to memory well enough to know where they were going, but as they turned the corner to the street the store was on, memories flooded back and his eyes went wide, and he turned to Simon, eyebrows furrowed and eyes dark and confused and worried.

“Are we going back?!”

Simon did not understand the words, but he did hear Kieren make a sound, so he glanced to him from the driver’s seat. Upon noticing the distress on Kieren’s face, he chuckled. _“Hey, it’s alright. We’re just picking up a few things, yeah?”_ He reached out to stroke Kieren’s wing gently. _“Good boy. Don’t worry.”_

Kieren looked unconvinced, but the soothing touches and the gentleness in Simon’s voice at the very least had him pushing his concern down a bit, willing himself to try to trust the flightless man. They parked outside of the store, and Simon helped Kieren out before leading him inside.

_“Uh… your Avi isn’t wearing a leash.”_

Simon turned as he heard someone speak. The store was completely empty save for a boy at the counter, where Gary had been before. Frowning, Simon approached, and Kieren followed. _“Yeah, he doesn’t need it.”_

The boy shook his head, but looked around awkwardly, thoughtfully biting his lip as he struggled to think of a response. Simon noticed a badge on his shirt that read “P. WILSON.”

Finally, the boy settled on, _“Look, all Avi are required to wear their leashes out in public. It does away with any fear that other people might have of them, and it helps establish a connection between an Avi and its owner.”_

Simon looked unconvinced. Kieren noticed the anger that flashed in his eyes and stared curiously. He recognized Philip, remembered him only vaguely from his time caged. He had seemed nice enough, and Kieren wondered what he had said to anger Simon now. _“I disagree. I don’t need a leash to establish a relationship, thanks.”_ He looked around the store a bit, and then frowned and turned to Philip again. _“I need clothes for him, though. And whatever other supplies he might need. I bought him on a whim, I don’t have anything for him back home.”_

Philip stared at Simon for a moment, and it looked like he was summing him up. Trying to decide how much of a threat he was, how dangerous it would be to start a fight with him. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, _“I- I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t sell you anything if you refuse to even keep your Avi properly leashed.”_

xxx

When Simon and Kieren walked out of the store about twenty minutes later, Kieren was being walked on a long, black leash. Simon held three shopping bags in his free hand, and kept his eyes everywhere but on the other’s neck.

_“Sorry,”_ he said finally as they reached his car. _“Jesus, I guess next time I just won’t take you.”_ After he had helped Kieren into his seat and sat down himself, he reached over and unhooked the leash. _“There, better?”_ He smiled a bit. Kieren returned the smile.

The drive home was quick, and once inside, Simon brought the shopping bags to his room and bid Kieren to follow. There, they tried out multiple types of clothes, making sure each shirt and each pair of pants fit. Simon also introduced Kieren to the concept of brushing his teeth, and replaced the tight leather collar around his neck with a rather pretty light blue one of a softer material.

Now in dark, polka-dot pajamas (that were specially made to fit his wings) and the comfortable blue collar on, Kieren was starting to look more at home here. Kieren, taking a bit of time to get used to the clothing change and new softness against his neck, sat down on the bed for a bit, so Simon sat beside him, and the two remained like that for a while, quietly sitting side by side.

“Thank you,” Kieren finally said, voice soft.

Simon did not understand, but he looked over to the other when he heard his voice. _“Something wrong?”_ he asked gently. He reached over and rubbed his shoulder. Kieren, remembering the way Simon had touched his wings before, twisted just a bit so that his back was more towards Simon, and he flapped his wings a few times in a gesture that he hoped showed that he wanted the flightless man’s attention directed to them.

Simon got the hint and chuckled, reaching out to pet the light feathers. Kieren hummed and relaxed, sitting beside Simon with his back to him. _“Good boy, Kieren.”_ Simon murmured, watching the other with admiration and awe as he pet him. The feathers felt soft beneath his fingers and he rubbed with just a bit more force, enough so that he was now massaging the wings gently. Kieren glanced back to Simon very briefly at the change of pressure, eyes wide. _“You like that?”_ Kieren said nothing, obviously, but the little sigh that escaped his lips was enough confirmation for Simon.

_“I can’t do this every day,_ Kieren.” Simon said absentmindedly as he pet and massaged the tan and cream wings. _“I can usually come home for lunch, but I can’t take all day off. I need to work. I’ve just barely started to recover, I need the money.”_ He sighed. _“And I’ll make money for the both of us, alright? So I can buy you lots of nice things.”_ He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the back of Kieren’s head. The winged boy flinched at that, turning again to eye Simon with confusion on his face and a tint of red on his cheeks. It took a moment for Simon to realize that his cheeks were equally flushed. _“I… I can trust you to stay on your own during the day, right? You can take care of yourself while I’m out….”_

xxx

As it would turn out, Kieren really _could_ take care of himself while Simon was away. The next day, other than coming home only briefly for lunch, Simon spent the entire day out, and although Kieren was bored and bit nervous, he did not cause any trouble and he was completely fine when he finally returned home that night, save for being a bit shaken up at the mild worry that Simon would never return.

He had that same fear the next day, when Simon again spent the entirety of the afternoon out of the house, but by the third day, he had come to expect that his owner would in fact return by the end of the day. By the end of their first week together, Kieren had grown accustomed to Simon’s having to leave every day, and although he did not know where he went, he always greeted him eagerly when he returned.

A little over a week later, Kieren had an idea. He spent a good few hours planning, thinking over all of his interactions with Simon up until this point, figuring out exactly what to do. By the time Simon came home, calling out, “Kieren, _I’m back!”_ as he entered, Kieren felt ready.

Tonight, Simon was greeted by an incredibly hesitant, _“Hey, Simon!”_

Simon went still. He stared at Kieren, a look of shock on his face. _“Did you just speak English?”_ he asked, not expecting an answer but at the same time almost hoping he would receive one.

But he didn’t. Instead, Kieren shifted a bit, nibbling on his lower lip awkwardly as he tried to remember the exact wording of the other phrase he had committed to memory this afternoon. _“W- Were things okay here…?”_ Because that was what Simon always said when he came home…

Suddenly understanding, Simon laughed. But it was a weak, almost nervous laugh, as if he was just a bit uncomfortable. _“That’s what I always say to you, huh? You’re greeting me the way I greet you!”_ But the uneasiness didn’t leave him. Because he hadn’t taught Kieren those words… But he supposed he had just picked them up over the course of the past week, right? He smiled at Kieren, to show that he appreciated the attempt. _“Are you hungry? Let’s get some dinner, c’mon.”_ He motioned towards the kitchen. Kieren, unsure of how well his attempt at communication had gone, followed with a soft sigh.

xxx

Amy was currently sitting in the bushes outside of the building Kieren had been taken into. She was behind it, eyeing the back door, hesitant. But she had to get inside. She had given it lots of thought, had done her best to put a plan together, and she had come to the conclusion she had been doing her best to avoid: She had to just get inside.

But she had to be quick and sneaky about it. She wouldn’t go through the front door, she’d go through the back, the same way Kieren had originally been taken. After watching for days she had learned that the people here did not come out of that door often. It was the safest approach. She would try her best to avoid the flightless, but if worst came to worst she _would_ fight them. She had to find Kieren and get out, no matter the cost.

The thought of her best friend being held captive, scared and in pain, was what drove her forward as Amy left her cover in the bushes and very, very slowly walked out into the open. She was exposed here, anyone could show up and see her. So she walked faster, making it to the back door of the building and opening it. It opened easily, and she entered, finding herself in an odd room full of cabinets and with a bed to the side.

Amy looked around, searching for signs of Kieren but finding none. She continued onwards, creeping quietly out of the room and into the hallway. No one was around, and she walked forward, exploring for a bit, finding closets and offices, but no sign of Kieren.

Then, she turned a corner, and found herself staring at a large door. Curious, she walked forward, but before she could make it to the end, she heard a voice call,

_“How’d you get out?!”_

Amy did not understand the words, whatever had been said was in a language she did not speak. Nonetheless, she turned, eyes going wide as she found herself staring at a flightless person. Instantly she paled, her heart practically stopping in her chest. _She’d been caught._

Desperately, Amy said, “I need to find my friend Kieren. Do you know where he is?”

The boy in front of her frowned, staring for a moment. Amy stepped forward, and he instantly responded by stepping back, as if attempting to keep his distance from her. _“Y- You’re not collared…”_ And her clothing… Those weren’t human clothes…

Amy tried again, already getting a feeling that her efforts were meaningless. “Do you know where Kieren is? You took him.” Actually, she did not recognize this particular flightless. He had not been there when they had attacked… “Kieren.” she said again, looking around, speaking slower as if hoping that that would somehow make what she said more easily understood, knowing that regardless of how she spoke he would not understand her language. “Where is Kieren?!”

The boy bit his lip, looking afraid and hopelessly lost. _“Look, I dunno how you got out or got your collar off or… or what you’re wearing... but I need you to get back in your cage now, d’you understand?”_ He very, very hesitantly took a step forward, but Amy remained where she was, standing and staring, afraid but stubborn and persistent.

“Kieren!” she snapped. “Where is Kieren?! I know you took him! You and your flightless pals. You came to our home and took our friends and family away and now you’ve taken my best friend! And I won’t leave without him, so tell me, where is Kieren?!”

Despite not understanding her words, the boy had heard the repeated sound and gave Amy a curious look. “K- Kieren? _Is that your… name…?”_ He pointed to her, not sure what else to make of her words. She was clearly upset, he thought. But animals didn’t get upset, did they? They didn’t feel emotion. At least, not like a human did. They didn’t try to communicate… He pointed to her again. “Kieren…?”

Amy furrowed her brow, and then shook her head and pointed to herself. “No, I’m Amy. I’m looking for Kieren.” The boy in front of her still looked confused, so she rolled her eyes and pointed to herself again. “Amy.”

The boy nodded, giving an almost hopeful smile as he pointed to himself now. _“Philip.”_

Amy rolled her eyes again. “Well, that’s great, _Philip._ Doesn’t help me much, though.” She shook her head and looked around again.

Philip was too busy staring in awe to even attempt to understand anything else she had said. He swallowed, a bit overwhelmed and even frightened, and breathed out, _“You said my name…”_ Animals didn’t do that. This Avi wasn’t behaving like an animal at all. She was like a person. And she was _beautiful._ He had never really stopped to admire an Avi’s wings before, but hers were a shadowy blue, and he was mesmerized by them. _“What is_ Kieren?” he asked quietly.

Amy heard her friend’s name leave Philip’s mouth and she gave him her attention once more. “Do you know where Kieren is?!”

Suddenly, from down the hall, another voice rang out, _“Oi, Philip! I have an updated version of our stock list. Thought it might be useful.”_ Footsteps could be heard as another person approached, and Amy sucked in a nervous breath. She recognized that voice.

Philip did too, apparently, and seemed equally nervous, for he turned and muttered, _“Gary…”_ under his breath. He turned to Amy, looking at her for a moment, summing her up, knowing he had little time to make a decision on what to do. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something white and he turned to see the bathroom door, with a paper taped to the front: “OUT OF ORDER.”

What he did after that was pure instinct. Philip grabbed Amy by the wrist, causing her eyes to widen, but she didn’t fight him, but rather stared at him with shock. He opened the door to the unusable restroom, shoved Amy inside without even an ounce of chivalry, and shut the door behind her.

Gary turned the corner a moment later to find Philip with his back pressed to the bathroom door.

_“What’re you doing? Bathroom’s been out for days. Called a plumber but he won’t be able to come for a bit longer.”_ Gary said, giving Philip a confused look. He handed him a folder. _“But here’s this. Updated list of all the Avi we have for sale at the moment, by gender, eye and hair color, and estimated age. Thought it might be an easy way to keep track of them when you’re making sure they’re all fed ‘n shit, yeah?”_

Philip took the folder and flipped through it briefly, swallowed, and nodded. _“Y- Yeah! Thanks.”_ He forced a smile, and then waited, desperately praying that Gary wouldn’t ask anymore questions. His prayers seemed to work apparently, for Gary said nothing else, simply gave him one more confused look, before turning and walking back down the hallway.

The moment he was certain Gary was far enough away, Philip urgently opened the folder and began to search through it. _“Sorry about that,_ Amy.” he muttered through the restroom door, knowing that she would not understand but still feeling the need to say it as he went through the list of Avi.

After checking and double checking, Philip sighed and closed the folder, eyes wandering to the door. Behind it was Amy. And according to the list Gary had made, she didn’t fit the description of a single one of their caught Avi. Amy hadn’t been kidnapped and broken free, she had _willingly come here._


	6. Chapter 6

Philip took a moment to regather himself, taking a few deep breaths and preparing himself for what he was about to do, still struggling to comprehend his realization. Once he had somewhat processed everything, he extended a trembling hand to the door handle and opened it, quickly slipping inside and shutting it again before Amy could try to get out.

But Amy did not try to get out. Instead, she stood with a confused and very frustrated, look on her face. Philip’s cheeks flushed and he took a step back, so that he was pressed against the door. _"L- Look, I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”_ he said, raising his hands as if showing surrender.

Amy stared, not saying a word, and Philip swallowed hard, not sure what she expected of him. “ _I don’t know what_ Kieren _is, alright? But I don’t want Gary to get you. I… Look, just stay here, okay? I’ll try to figure things out.”_ He shifted uncomfortably.

Finally, Amy spoke. In a language Philip could not understand, she snapped, “What exactly are you planning to do to me in here, _Philip_?”

Philip swallowed. _“Didn’t know you could learn people’s names that fast.”_

“I can’t understand you. You realize that, right? I don’t know what you’re saying. I just want to know where Kieren is so that I can go home.”

 _“What is_ Kieren?!”

“Where is Kieren?!”

The two stood in silence now, Philip nervous and scared and Amy irritated and confused. The restroom smelled disgusting, and now that he was not actively panicking Philip was becoming terribly aware of it. He coughed and shook his head, turning to the door.

“So you’re just going to keep me in this place?” Amy laughed bitterly.

Philip did not respond, didn’t know how to respond or what she had even said, and the fact that she had very clearly _laughed_ made him shiver, so with another awkward apology he opened the door. Wondering if Amy would be able to get out of a closed room, he decided to hinder her just a bit by also locking it. The restroom locked from the inside (he had a key, he could get in if he had to even with it locked), so any flightless human wouldn’t have a problem escaping, but he figured there was the possibility that it _could_ keep an _Avi_ in.

Then Philip left, leaving Amy alone. She paced around, trying to ignore the stench of the restroom, looking around and weighing her options. So she had been caught. But this flightless, Philip, he didn’t seem dangerous. He seemed like an idiot, and he seemed terrified of her, but not dangerous. So what was he trying to do to her?

And where was Kieren? Philip didn’t seem to understand what she said, but he had repeated Kieren’s name a lot. Did he know where he was? Was Kieren still alive?

Amy was hopeful. If this was the treatment of all of the Avi here, it was awful, but it wasn’t deadly. Even if Kieren was locked up in some disgusting place like this, at the very least he was alive.

Later that night, when Philip was supposed to bring food to the captured, unsold Avi, he stopped by again, briefly, with a glass of water and a bowl of food. He said nothing to her, but he did breath out a quiet apology once more as he left.

xxx

That Friday, Simon got a call. He was out of the house at the time (Kieren had been home alone and nearly had a heart attack when the phone went off). Noticing a voicemail had been left, he sat down after dinner to listen to it.

_“Hello there! Gary Kendal here. You bought an Avi a little while ago. Tomorrow if yer available, it’s scheduled for its first injection. Come in any time before noon and we’ll get yer bird all shot up and ready to go in no time!”_

Simon frowned, turning to look at Kieren, who sat beside him, watching him curiously. _“I forgot about that. Bad immune system, right?”_ Kieren hadn’t shown any signs of sickness yet, he thought, but he supposed it would be safer to get the injections than to ignore them. The last thing he wanted was for Kieren to get sick.

This was why the next morning, at ten o’clock, Simon got Kieren dressed and washed (Kieren was okay with showers, Simon had learned. He didn’t seem to enjoy them as much as baths, but he was okay with them) and they got into the car. As they approached the Avi pet store, Kieren frowned, turning to Simon. “Why are we back again?”

Simon didn’t know what Kieren said, but he had a feeling it wasn’t good, because there was some worry in his tone. He smiled a bit. _“Hey, it’s alright. Just a few shots and then you’re done. I’ll take you out to get something to eat somewhere afterwards and everything, alright?”_ He then breathed a sigh and pulled the leash from his pocket. “I’m sorry about this, Kier. But you remember the way things went last time.” He hooked the leash to Kieren’s collar.

Kieren frowned, looking at the leash and then glancing to the upset look on Simon’s face. “It’s okay, _Simon._ ” he said awkwardly. “I- I mean, I don’t mind.” He gave a small smile. Simon recognized his own name and smiled back before getting out of the car and leading Kieren to the front of the store.

Once more, Philip was the one at the counter. Currently he was on his phone, scrolling through emails he hadn’t bothered to answer. He sighed as he saw Simon and Kieren approaching, remembering the confrontation that had taken place before. As he saw the irritable look on Simon’s face, he nervously said, _“Thank you for properly leashing your-”_

 _“Save it.”_ Simon interrupted tersely. _“Look, we got a call last night._ Kieren _has an appointment today.”_

Philip dropped the phone. He stared, eyes wide, at Kieren. _“What’s his name…?”_

Simon raised a brow. “Kieren. _He told me himself.”_ Philip’s face was white. Simon stared, confused, not understanding. _“Is there a problem? Look, I want to get out of here as quick as possible, if you could just-”_

 _“Sorry. I’m sorry. I just… nothing. I’m sorry. Come with me, please.”_ Philip was still pale. He swallowed hard as he turned to the back door, motioning for Simon and Kieren to follow. They walked down the long hallway to the back room, where Kieren had first wound up when he had first been taken here. _“If you can, uh, make your… er, make_ Kieren _sit on the bed in the corner, please.”_

Simon gently lead Kieren to the corner of the room. Once he had sat down on the bed, Simon let go of the leash, and to his surprise, Philip did not stop him. He was distracted, staring anxiously between Kieren and the door, and Simon could not begin to comprehend why.

 _“Uh… uh, I’m… I’ll leave you two here. Gary should be here in just a few minutes. I’ll let him know you’re here.”_ Philip glanced once more at Kieren, bit his lip, and then sighed and left.

Simon sat down on the bed beside Kieren now as they waited. “He was acting weird, huh?” He shook his head. Then, mind wandering, he gave a little chuckle. _“After we’re done here we should get fish and chips. Birds always love when you toss chips to them. Back when Mom, ah… Back when Mom was still alive, we’d eat sometimes at this restaurant right near the park? And these birds would always come out and hang around your feet, hope you’d toss them food.”_ He chuckled again, but there was a hint of sadness in his tone now. Kieren wondered what he had said.

But he didn’t have time to wonder for too long, because a moment later his thoughts were interrupted by a voice greeting, _“Hullo!”_ as Gary walked through the door. Kieren turned, and he sucked in a breath as he saw the flightless man, face paling a bit with nervousness. Simon reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. It helped a bit.

 _“How’ve things been with your Avi, mate?”_ Gary asked, walking to a cabinet and beginning to rummage through it as he spoke.

Simon smiled. _“Great. We’re both really happy, I think.”_ He turned to Kieren and smiled, and Kieren, not understanding, smiled back just a bit. Hoping to encourage him, Simon added, partly for Gary but mostly for Kieren, “Kieren _is a really good boy.”_ Kieren’s wings flapped a bit at the praise and his smiled brightened.

With a hint of sarcasm that momentarily washed the smile from Simon’s face, Gary replied, _“Yeah, I’m sure he is.”_ He turned around to face Simon and Kieren, and in his hand was a syringe. _“Look, this’ll be quick and easy, okay? Yer Avi needs two shots, one in each arm. Once that’s over with, he’ll probably be a bit disoriented, but in a little bit he’ll be good as new.”_

Simon sighed and nodded. He turned to Kieren and squeezed his hand again. _“This is just once every two weeks. You can do this.”_ Kieren’s brow furrowed. He kept his eyes off of the syringe, not wanting to think about it. Just the sight of it gave him a terrible feeling in his stomach and made his wing twitch with pain. He wasn’t sure why.

Luckily, the injection process was fast, just as promised. Gary took hold of Kieren’s right arm, turning it over so he had easy access to the underside, and took no time to prick the skin and inject the drug into him. He did the same with the other arm after that, and although Kieren winced and bit back a whimper each time, he did not fight it or cause any sort of trouble.

Soon enough, Simon was awkwardly thanking Gary and leading Kieren away, out of the store and back to the car. As Kieren sat down in the passenger seat and Simon reached over to undo the leash, he noticed that, just as Gary had warned, he seemed incredibly disoriented.

 _“Hey, you okay?”_ he asked, giving Kieren a nudge.

Kieren did not respond. His mind raced and he could barely think. The world around him, and, even more confusingly, his memories, were an absolute blur. He could remember bits and pieces - he remembered Simon easily. But he could also remember other names. Names that hadn’t crossed his mind in days. Amy, Rick, Jem. They made his heart and head ache and he looked down, trying to process them, trying to remember when he had last heard those names and what they meant to him.

“Kieren?” Simon called again, shaking his shoulder now. Kieren slowly looked up until their eyes met, but there was still a frown on his face. Simon sighed. _“It’s alright,_ Kier. _Let’s get lunch, yeah?”_

Simon took Kieren to the small restaurant they had spoken of. Taking Kieren out in public was always an experience - people stared. They couldn’t help it. Avi were not unknown to the public, but few actually had them. And even less actually took them out in public. So it was no surprise that a boy with huge, gold and cream wings would attract some attention.

Kieren remained out of it for awhile, dazed and having trouble paying attention to Simon’s words (because even if he couldn’t _understand_ , it was clear enough when he was listening). It wasn’t until he had eaten and they had walked around a bit that Kieren’s head finally seemed to clear up and he became a bit more attentive.

 _“Wonder what that drug was,”_ Simon mused as they got back into the car. Simon only vaguely noticed the leash on the dashboard. He clearly wasn’t very good at remembering it. _“You seem to be doing okay now though, yeah?”_ Kieren didn’t give a response, not that he had expected one, but Simon nudged him gently all the same. _“Y’okay,_ Kieren?” 

Hearing his own name, Kieren looked at Simon for a moment, eyes lingering a bit too long. He was still out of it. But he smiled a bit, wanting to show that he was okay, knowing it wouldn’t do much good to try to tell him that aloud.

But Simon seemed content with the response. The shots were for Kieren’s own good - they would keep him from being sick, right? - and Gary had promised that he’d be okay in just a little bit. He was already doing better than he had earlier. So he proceeded to turn the car on and drive home.

xxx

Philip wasn’t exactly sure what he was planning to do when he unlocked the restroom and ran inside. He hadn’t exactly come up with a plan of action. And when he saw Amy, sitting in the corner and staring at him with surprise and confusion, he realized how little he had thought this through.

Face going red, he cleared his throat before saying, _“I… I know who_ Kieren _is now.”_ He smiled, but he knew Amy could not understand.

But she had heard Kieren’s name. She raised a brow, not getting up but now giving Philip her full attention as she stared at him, waiting for some sort of explanation, hoping he could give one. “Why are you back here, then? Something about Kieren?”

Philip became very aware that he had no way of conveying to Amy what he knew. He frowned, trying to think. He didn’t want to let Gary know about her. The thought of it, of capturing her and drugging her and sticking her in a cage, didn’t sit right with him at all. But he had no idea where to go from here. “Kieren…” he began nervously. _“He… he was bought by someone. He’s not here anymore.”_

Amy continued to stare in silence, still not understanding. Philip pointed to the door. _“He was bought by a human! Someone took him home, he’s not in this building!”_ He sighed, quickly realizing that no matter how many times he said it, Amy would not understand.

But she _had_ understood his name. She had spoken to him, just not in his language. She could understand. Eventually. If she learned how.

Philip eyed Amy for a moment longer. She was glaring at him now, impatient. “What have you done with my friend?” she asked him. It was starting to sound less like random sounds and more like a language to him. She really was trying to communicate, just like he was. They just couldn’t speak each other’s languages.

“Amy…?” 

_“Philip?”_ Amy’s response was sarcastic, and it made Philip’s cheeks redden. And it made a terrible pit filled with guilt and worry form in his stomach. Because it was becoming more and more apparent that she could understand. That she was more than just sentient, she was completely human. She couldn’t understand his language, but she could speak and think and feel, just like him.

Philip did the only thing he could think of doing and turned around and left. Amy watched with shock as he once more locked the door from the inside and exited, leaving her alone. Then she let out a huff and shook her head.

“I’m no closer to saving Kieren if I’m trapped in this hellhole,” she muttered to herself, stretching her wings and then sighing. But she couldn’t escape. She didn’t know how, and admittedly, she wasn’t putting too much effort into it for the time being - Because she knew the risk of being caught again was too high.

Besides, this Philip… he hadn’t hurt her. In fact, he was bringing her food. And he was talking about Kieren. There was a chance, thought Amy, that he knew where Kieren was, and if that was the case, and he wasn’t an enemy, perhaps he could help her get to him.

Outside of the restroom, Philip was walking quickly down the hallway. Behind him was the door where the other Avi were kept, the ones being sold. The thought made him sick to his stomach now. Because if Amy was human, if Amy could think and speak and feel, then they could too, couldn’t they? Were they selling humans as pets? Kidnapping and drugging and selling humans?

He took in a shaky breath. Who was this Kieren person? His owner, the man with the black hair (the man he had forced into putting Kieren on a _leash_ , oh God), what was he like? Philip didn’t want to confront him. Not about Amy. Besides, he didn’t even know anything about him. Gary was the only one who had access to owners’ information, and he was not about to tell _Gary_ about any of this.

Speaking of Gary-

_“Where’re you off to?”_

Gary stood in the doorway of his office, watching Philip, who had begun to wander aimlessly through the building, lost in thought. Philip sucked in a breath, eyes going wide as he tried to come up with something to say. _“L- Lunch. I’m off to lunch.”_

Gary nodded. _“Gotcha. Try to be back ASAP though, huh? Saturdays tend to be pretty busy.”_

_“R- Right! Yeah, okay, I’ll… do that.”_

Philip turned around quickly, wishing he could just sprint to the door and get away, but he was stopped as Gary called out, _“Oh! One other thing. Plumber’s finally coming tomorrow. Said he’ll be in around two. We can finally fix up that toilet, eh?”_

Philip’s heart nearly stopped.

_“O- Oh. Great!”_

He turned and left before another word could be said, his heart pounding in his chest and his mind absolutely racing. He drove to the apartment he and his mother shared, not sure where else to go and unable to fully come up with any better plan of action. He didn’t have much time. He was _hiding an Avi in a bathroom._ And tomorrow, if he didn’t act fast, everyone would know.

Shirley Wilson, mother of Philip Wilson, absolutely did not expect to see Philip walk through the door, and definitely didn’t expect him to not even stop to greet her before rushing to his room. Being a mother for over twenty years, it was only natural that she was immediately aware that something was wrong, and it was with a worried frown that she walked to Philip’s room and knocked before entering.

_“Nice to see you home for lunch, love. Is something the matter?”_

Philip had hardly noticed her enter. He was currently in the middle of waiting for an app on his phone to load, because at the very least _Bejeweled_ would provide a solid distraction from the incredibly difficult predicament he was in, right?

He turned, however, as he was addressed by his mother. _“Erm, I’m fine.”_

Shirley shook her head. _“You can’t fool me, Phil. You never come in without saying hello.”_ She walked over now and sat beside Philip on the bed. Philip proceeded to let out a long, exasperated sigh, but he turned to her, staring for a moment, hesitating but wanting - _needing_ \- advice.

 _“M- Mom…”_ he began awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say, how much he could say. _“If… if you… thought you knew something, but it was really only a hunch, but… but if you were right, it would be a really big deal… and even if you are right it could lead to lots of bad things, like… like losing your job and making lots of people unhappy… what would you do?”_

Shirley frowned, staring with a furrowed brow. _“I- I’m not entirely sure I understand, Phil.”_ she admitted, shaking her head.

Philip sighed. _“I have this… theory. But I don’t know if I’m right. And I almost… don’t want to be. But if I am, it’s… it’s a really big deal, I think.”_ Avi aren’t animals, he thought. Avi are people. Avi can speak. Avi can think. Avi can feel. And they were being treated like animals. _“But… but it would… probably cause a lot of problems… if I was right… and I don’t… I don’t want that.”_

Shirley nodded, and she seemed to understand, at least a bit. She stared at Philip for a moment longer, looking concerned and a bit confused, as if wondering if she should ask for more information. But Philip was clearly intentionally withholding information, and she was not going to pressure him for it now. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, _“Well, Phil… I trust you to do the right thing. And that means that, sometimes… sacrifices have to be made. I can’t tell you what you should do, especially if you’re going to be secretive like this, but just remember that it’s okay to… take risks, if it means you’re doing the right thing.”_

A frustrated groan left Philip. _“But I... I don’t know if what I’m doing is right. It was just reflex at first. I just… did it because I panicked. And if I keep going now and I’m wrong… it was all pointless and I’ve risked everything for no reason…”_

 _“I told you, I can’t tell you what the right thing is, Phil.”_ Shirley replied. _“But I trust you to make whatever decision that you think is best.”_

Philip thought for a long while. He was silent, staring between his phone, his mother, and the wall. Even now, while he sat here trying to make a decision, Amy was waiting, locked in a restroom. Wondering where her friend was. And he knew what choice he had to make.

 _“Alright.”_ Philip turned to his mother once more and gave a nod. _“Alright… I know what I need to do. I- I need to get back to work.”_ He stood up and stretched, looking around absentmindedly for a moment until another thought came to him and his eyes went wide. _“Oh! One other thing.”_

Shirley smiled, glad to see that Philip seemed at least a bit more at ease. _“What is it, Phil?”_

_“I need to borrow a dress.”_


	7. Chapter 7

Philip came back to work not long after his talk with his mother. But this time, he had a bag in his hand. Gary was at the front desk, and did nothing but give him a quick wave as he walked past. The bag went unnoticed. Relieved and wanting this to be over with as quick as possible, once he was out of Gary’s line of sight he began to run, down the hallway and to the restroom.

He unlocked the door and found Amy sitting, just as before, watching him. Philip bit his lip. _“Hi,_ Amy!” he greeted before beginning to rummage through the bag. He found a picture he had printed out - an owl wing. He held it up. “Kieren, _yeah?”_ Kieren had owl wings. He could picture the boy vividly, remembering the times he had brought him food when he had first been brought here, remembering him entering with the dark haired man (with no leash on…).

Amy’s eyes went wide and she nodded desperately. “That’s Kieren’s wing! Do you know where he is? Is he okay?!”

Philip swallowed. _“I- I can help you,_ Amy. _I can help you find_ Kieren. _B- But… but you need to come with me. And quickly. I… I can’t take you to see_ Kieren, _but I can… I can try to teach you English. And then you can go see him yourself.”_ Amy frowned, not understanding, but now completely attentive and curious. Philip went back through the bag and found a dress, aquamarine with pink flowers, one that his mother rarely wore and hadn’t minded letting him borrow. _“Put this on, okay? You can’t go out in… whatever that is.”_

She wore what looked like furs. Many furs, of different animals - Philip thought he recognized a squirrel, raccoon, and perhaps a few rabbits - sown together crudely. It covered her well enough, and he supposed it was very warm, but it wasn’t something she could go out in public wearing.

But she wouldn’t take the dress.

 _“Put it on, okay? Like… like this.”_ Philip sighed, holding it up over his own body, cheeks feeling hot as he did. At least no one else was seeing this…Amy watched for a moment, then she understood, and she nervously reached for the dress. Apparently, she had no qualms with undressing in front of strangers, because she was quick to rid herself of the fur she wore, and Philip had only a split second to turn around, his cheeks an even deeper shade of red now.

Amy struggled for a moment to get the dress on, her wings not fitting in it and thus being stuck pressed to her back, which caused two large bumps to be visible on her back beneath the dress. But it worked for now. Once enough time had passed, Philip turned back around to look, and a little gasp escaped him.

She was _pretty._ She had been pretty before, too, he supposed, but now he felt safe thinking so, because her wings weren’t visible and she was wearing clothes that made her look… not like a wild animal. Her eyes were a pretty hazel brown and her hair was long and dark and looked incredibly soft. She had a confused look on her face still, and she tugged awkwardly at the skirt of the dress, not sure what to do now.

 _“Come with me, alright? We need to be fast about this because I can’t let Gary see you.”_ He reached for his bag once more and pulled from it a very light, soft pink collar. He hadn’t wanted to collar her - he still felt guilty for making Kieren wear a leash - but he also knew that if they did run into Gary, he could at least come up with an excuse if she were dressed and collared properly.

Trembling with fear, as if scared of her attacking him if he came too close, Philip approached Amy and put the collar on her. She frowned, but she didn’t fight him, and she did nothing but let out a little gasp as he proceeded to attach a leash to the collar. _“L- Let’s go,_ Amy…”

Philip tugged her forward. Amy immediately understood the purpose of the leash, and she furrowed her brow. “What exactly are you trying to do?!” she asked, offended, refusing to move at first.

Philip bit his lip. “Please, Amy. You want to see Kieren again, don’t you?” He had never dealt with an undrugged Avi before. Typically, they easily went along with a leash. He didn’t know exactly what the drug Gary injected them with did, but now that he was dealing with Amy, it seemed clear enough that an Avi that hadn’t been given the dosage was less likely to do something just because someone had attached a rope to their neck.

Desperate, Philip pointed to the door of the bathroom. “Kieren, Amy! _You need to come with me if you want to see_ Kieren!” He groaned with frustration and tugged on the leash again. _“Please trust me.”_ He sighed, and the anger left his tone, and was replaced by a gentler voice that held just a hint of regret. _“I’m sorry for everything, alright? I’m sorry for locking you up. I’m sorry for… for everything I did to_ Kieren. _For everything I let Gary do to_ Kieren. _But I want to fix things now. So I… I need you to come with me.”_

Amy couldn’t understand. But her own expression softened as she listened and watched Philip, hearing the change of tone, hearing her friend’s name repeated so many times. And she thought back to Philip bringing her food, thought back to him showing her the picture of Kieren’s wing. Maybe… _maybe_ he was a friend.

And she didn’t really have any other options right now anyway, did she?

With a soft, defeated sigh, Amy took a step forward. Philip’s mouth opened in surprise and he watched her for a moment, but when she did nothing else but stare as if waiting, he gave her leash another tug and opened the bathroom door. She followed him down the hallway, looking around curiously as they moved, eyes wandering over the bland white walls and studying the doors that led into different offices and rooms. Soon they made it out of the back and into the main store, and Amy’s eyes went wide with curiosity.

“What is this place?” she asked. Philip glanced back as he heard her speak, but did not know what she said, so he did not give a response. She did not expect one, and was too busy staring at the various items for sale to care.

Then they made it outside.

Amy was overwhelmed by the brightness for a moment, but she was more relieved to finally have fresh air in her lungs than anything else. Her wings shifted under the dress she wore, wanting to spread and stretch them, wanting desperately to fly away. She could, she thought. She was stronger than a leash. But she was going to trust Philip first. She was going to see if Philip could take her to Kieren.

At first, Amy was hesitant about getting into Philip’s car. But she was also, at this point, decidedly willing to follow his instructions, and she very nervously sat down in the back seat when it was offered to her. Philip unhooked the leash then before getting into the driver’s seat, and soon they were driving away from the store, back to Philip’s apartment.

Amy took a moment to adjust to being back on her feet after the car ride was over. She was a bit disoriented, she hadn’t seemed to enjoy being in a car very much, but she was soon back to her normal self and following Philip inside.

The apartment was relatively average. There were only a few rooms, the living room taking up most of the space with two small bedrooms to the right and a kitchen to the left. It was neat and clean and considerably nicer than the bathroom she had been stuck in for the past few days. Philip looked around, eyes occasionally returning to rest nervously on Amy.

 _“Uh… you like it here?”_ he asked awkwardly.

Amy turned when she heard him speak. “Where are we?” she asked. Was Kieren here? It was a flightless home, she supposed. Was this Philip’s home? That would make sense, but it did not add up. Why had he taken her back to his home? Was this all some sort of trick?

 _“Philip? Are you back already?”_ A voice called from the bedroom. Philip took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst.

Shirley walked in. She stopped, eyes widening, as she saw Amy, and then looked at Philip with confusion. _“Ah… Who’s this then, Phil?”_ She pointed to Amy, who’s wings were shifting uncomfortably under the borrowed dress, wanting nothing more than to raise them defensively but not being able to.

Philip took another deep breath and looked at Amy for a moment, staring as if this was the first time he had seen her, summing her up and admiring her and staring at her with renewed doubt and confusion and fear. _“She says her name is_ Amy. _She’s… she’s an Avi. Like the ones I sell at work. I’m… I’m going to try to teach her English, I think she can learn.”_

 _“I thought they couldn’t speak?”_ Shirley, like all good mothers should, had been extremely interested upon discovering her son had gotten a job, and besides visiting the establishment herself multiple times, had also asked a countless number of questions and knew almost as much about the Avi as Philip himself did at this point.

 _“Y- Yeah. Me too.”_ Philip rolled his eyes. _“But… she’s looking for her friend, I think. Someone named_ Kieren. _He’s another Avi, his owner actually brought him in earlier. I think…”_ He took one last, long, deep breath. This was the first time he was saying this out loud, and he was almost certain he would sound crazy. _“I think they’re like us, Mom. I think the Avi are just people. I think… I think we’re selling other people as pets there, and I want to try to teach_ Amy _English to prove it.”_

Amy stood silently, watching Philip and Shirley communicate and wondering what they were saying, hearing her name come up in the conversation every now and then. Shirley had a look of shock on her face, but not anger or doubt or any other negative emotion Philip had been worried about. He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced to Amy. She raised a brow at him, and his cheeks flushed just a bit.

Then Shirley sighed. _“Alright, Phil. I trust you. I’ll help in any way that I can, alright?”_

Philip smiled. _“Alright.”_ He turned to Amy and reached out a hand. She stared at it, but did not move. Awkwardly, he lowered his hand again. _“Well, er… come on,_ Amy! _We have a lot to do. If you want to see Kieren again, you’re gonna have to learn to speak English.”_

xxx

When Monday came around, Kieren was beyond disappointed to see Simon have to once more go back to work. He was okay by himself, and by now he was no longer experiencing the negative side effects of the drugs and could think clearly, but he did not _like_ being alone. It was boring, and he quickly ran out of things to do, and would spend a good portion of the day lying around and preening.

It was Wednesday that the feathers and flesh beneath the bandage still around his right wing began to irritate him. The rest of his wing was frequently touched, either by himself when preening and grooming or by Simon, but the lack of any contact was starting to make the spot feel uncomfortable and the bandage was feeling more tight and stiff than anything else. Hesitant, he reached for the bandage, touching it gingerly. The wound beneath did not hurt very much anymore. He undid it, freeing the injured area, and inspected it.

The feathers hid the flesh, so Kieren could not easily tell if there was a serious wound or not, and upon trying to touch it he still found that putting too much pressure on the area caused a sudden, sharp pain. He flapped his wing a few times then, getting used to the feeling of it being free from the bandage, before deciding to leave it alone.

Simon did not notice when he came home that night. He greeted Kieren as he always did, without voicing any sort of concern or even acknowledgement, and it was not until much later, when Kieren was changing into pajamas (which he had learned to do on his own recently) that Simon became aware of the wing’s newfound freedom.

 _“Hey, your wing!”_ Simon walked over and touched the wing gingerly, tugging it a bit to get it to unfold from Kieren’s back and inspecting the area the same as Kieren had. Kieren let out a gasp of pain when Simon forced the feathers away, trying to get a better look at the actual injury. _“You okay?”_ he asked, letting go after a moment, not wanting to subject Kieren to too much pain. _“It doesn’t look bad or anything… You need medicine, maybe?”_

Kieren shrugged awkwardly and rubbed the injury. It hurt still, and Simon was being a bit rough with it, but he wasn’t exactly sure what would help. And even if he did know, he knew he had no way of conveying what he would want to Simon. “It- It’s okay.” he ended up trying to explain, “I mean… it’s not the first time I’ve hurt my wing, I’ll be fine.”

His own words made him pause. Memories rushed forward and for a moment, a moment so brief that even he was only barely able to process it, he was filled with terrible, terrible guilt. He sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening, and he stared at Simon. Simon frowned at the odd behavior and reached out to take hold of Kieren’s hand.

 _“What’s wrong?”_ Simon asked. “Kieren? _You okay?”_

Kieren did not respond. He continued to stare, watching him curiously, like he had never seen him before. Then he seemed to snap from his daze, and he shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing, I’m fine.” Then, giving a small smile, he hesitated before attempting in Simon’s language, _“Okay.”_ He pointed to himself.

Simon’s eyebrows rose in surprise for a moment before he smiled and laughed. _“You’re okay.”_ Kieren nodded, and Simon laughed again before giving him a pat on the head. _“Good boy,_ Kieren!”

xxx

_“Good boy, Fluffy!”_

Amy watched curiously as Shirley fed a small rodent a slice of apple. She didn’t understand why the woman kept it as a pet - That was _food_ where she was from. The apple and the creature. But this creature looked like there was more fat than anything else on it. The rodents she caught and ate were mice and squirrels, not whatever this thing was.

Philip, who sat beside Amy on the couch and had been scrolling through information on his phone about how to learn and teach foreign languages, glanced to Amy and noticed where her attention was. He nudged her gently. _“That’s mom’s hamster. She’s feeding him an apple.”_ He spoke slowly, pointing to things as he did in hopes of conveying the meaning of each word. _“His name’s Fluffy.”_

Laughing at that, Shirley reached into the glass cage to pick up the little creature. She held him towards Amy. _“You see, Amy? Fluffy the hamster!”_ She gave the squirming rodent a kiss on the nose and set him back down in the cage. _“Good boy!”_

Philip turned to Amy again. _“That’s what we say to pets,_ Amy. _Understand?”_

Amy didn’t understand, not really. Everything was confusing still, the words were confusing and fast and she had trouble following them, even distinguishing the different sounds. But she was happy to be here. She still wanted to find Kieren, but her current situation was better than any she had been in since leaving home. Here, she had access to food and water and shelter, and as much as she despised the flightless for taking Kieren and so many others, she was grateful for Philip and Shirley.

xxx

Kieren had trouble getting to sleep that night. He felt restless, his head spinning with emotions and thoughts that he could hardly keep track of. It was not the same type of disorientedness that he experienced after the injections, but it was similar. He had trouble remembering things, his mind wandering too much and too quickly for him to properly comprehend anything or dwell on thoughts long enough to figure them out.

With Simon only a few inches away from him, he considered waking him up. But Kieren knew that would not go anywhere. Simon would wake up for him, he thought. If he woke him and made it clear something was wrong he would be up in an instant. But Kieren did not know what was wrong exactly, and even if he did know, he would have no way of telling Simon.

When sleep finally did come, it was light and uneasy. Kieren’s mind seemed to twitch in and out of consciousness, unable to properly settle down, and when he did eventually fully fall into a state of sleep, his dreams were blurry and hard to make out.

“This isn’t a punishment, Kieren. It’s a natural consequence for reckless behavior.” A voice said. Kieren didn’t remember whose voice it was. It belonged to a woman, and she felt familiar, and he was comforted by it. But the words themselves made him feel sick, and he shifted uneasily in his sleep.

He could see someone looking at him now, smiling at him sadly, trying to silently promise him that it was okay, that he wasn’t mad at him. His eyes were hazel and kind and his wings were huge and powerful-looking and dark brown. Kieren wanted to run into his arms, knew instantly that this person was a friend, was someone he wanted to be close to, but there was still the voice speaking to him, gentle but stern, making a terrible pit of guilt form in his stomach.

“The ceremony will just have to be put off. If you can’t fly, you can’t finish it. In a few weeks it’ll be healed up and you’ll be flying again, but until then we just have to wait.”

Another girl’s voice cut through his dreams. It was higher pitched, younger, and harsher. “How stupid do you have to be to hunt in a bloody storm?!”

And then a man’s voice, exasperated and worried and frustrated. “Did Rick put you up to this, Kier? You should have known it wasn’t safe. You should have known better.”

Kieren awoke with a jolt. He gasped aloud, eyes opening instantly, the feathers of his wings ruffling up with surprise and confusion. He looked around, confused, and found relief rush through him as he became aware of his surroundings, became aware of Simon laying beside him, became aware of the familiar comfort of the mattress and blanket and pillows he was sleeping with.

Still, Kieren’s movements woke Simon up, who blinked tired eyes before sitting up beside the other.

 _“Everything alright?”_ he asked, looking at him curiously. _“Have a bad dream?”_ he reached out to stroke the feathers of the wing nearest to him.

Kieren looked at Simon for a moment, a frown on his face. “I’m okay, _Simon.”_ he promised awkwardly. He could tell Simon was worried, and he felt a bit bad. It had just been a dream. He could hardly even remember it now, anyway. He hadn’t wanted to wake him. In an almost apologetic fashion he lay down with his head resting on Simon’s lap. He spread his wings out, flapping them minutely in hopes of getting the other to pet them.

Simon understood and chuckled sleepily, reaching down to run his hands through the feathers of Kieren’s wings. _“What, you wake me up at two in the morning to have your wings pet?”_ He shook his head. _“What’d you dream about, hm?”_ He knew the question could not be answered.

And even if Kieren could _understand_ the question, he might not have been able to answer it anyway. He could hardly remember the dream now, if he could even call it that. It had been too blurry, too hard to understand. Too much had been happening, but none of it had been enough to comprehend.

He eventually gave up trying to figure it out and fell asleep in Simon’s lap. Simon would remain awake for a bit, stroking his wings and watching him sleep, before he, too, would lay back down and go back to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

During the days Philip would leave the apartment, and Amy never understood why. She would be left alone with Shirley, who would take over wherever Philip left off, teaching her new words and talking to her as much as possible. That was what all of the language-learning websites had said to do, Philip had explained. In order to learn a new language, you had to be submerged in it, had to hear it as much and as often as possible.

But Amy was curious as to where Philip went. She knew that where she came from mornings were typically busy, but they were busy doing things for the sake of survival, such as gathering food or firewood. Philip and Shirley, with their nice home that warmed and cooled itself and more food than Amy could ever imagine needing, did not need to worry about such things...

Shirley soon noticed Amy’s curiosity, noticed the way she would watch through the window as Philip left, trying to figure out where he was heading. She did her best to explain.

_“He’s off to work, love. He has to make money.”_

Amy had not understood. She still did not understand most English, save for extremely basic words and phrases. Truth be told, not enough time had passed for her to have even a basic understanding of the language yet.

Still, Shirley continued to try. _“Every day, save for Sunday, Phil goes off to work. He takes care of other Avi like yourself,_ Amy!” She handed Amy a glass of lemonade as she spoke, and pointed to it. _“Can you tell me what this is?”_

Amy sighed and accepted the glass. _“Lemonade. Ah, in a cup, or a glass. Thank you.”_

 _“Good job! Terrific! Anywho, ah, Philip - He works for a man named Gary Kendal, who sells other Avi. I don’t know too much about the whole process myself, but apparently the whole system’s not so good. Corrupt leadership and all that. You’re here to try to fix things.”_ She smiled and sat down across from Amy at the small dining room table. _“But Philip can’t quit or he’ll lose access to all the other Avi, and if we want to make a change we’re going to have to keep our friends close and our enemies even closer, right?”_ She laughed.

xxx

Simon didn’t realize how bored Kieren was throughout the day until about a week later, when he came home from work early to find his bird asleep on the couch. It made sense, he supposed, and it was something that should have come to mind already - Kieren could not read, could not play games, could not talk to anyone. During the day, he had nothing to do, and suddenly Simon felt incredibly guilty.

He spent a long while trying to come up with something that he could do during the day. Finally that night, while writing out a to-do list for work (something he almost always did, as it helped him stay organized), a thought came to him.

“Kieren?” he stood, looking down at the pencil in his hand. “Kieren, _come here…”_

Kieren, who was preening on the couch, heard his own name being called and looked up at Simon. Realizing he was being beckoned he stood, walking to the other and looking at him curiously. Hesitant, Simon placed a piece of paper in front of him. Then he held up his pencil. _“Do you think you could figure out how to use this?”_

Kieren looked at the pencil. He had seen a few flightless people use the item, but he could never figure out what it did. Gary had used it, he remembered, and Simon did almost every night. It created marks on paper. Simon smiled a bit at the curious expression on Kieren’s face and reached over to the paper he had set before him, and drew a quick doodle of an apple.

_“See, apple! I drew an apple. You know that word, don’t you?”_

Kieren did know that word, and he stared for a moment, understanding slowly. You could use the item that made marks on paper to draw. Simon handed the pencil to Kieren now. _“You try it.”_

The pencil took awhile to get used to. He made a few attempts at drawing simple things, sketching shaky drawings of apples, cups, utensils, the computer Simon used at night, and the faucet in the bathroom. Things he recognized, things that were familiar. As he grew more accustomed to the motion of holding a pencil, however, his drawings became more detailed, and less shaky. He revisited the apple, drew it again but with more detail this time, and Simon, who had stood watching for the entirety of Kieren’s drawing practice, let out a soft hum.

 _“That looks good,”_ he said, pointing to the newest picture. _“You’re good at that. Maybe try drawing something harder?”_ He chuckled and pointed to him. _“Try drawing yourself! Try drawing_ Kieren!” He was curious, admittedly. Did Kieren know what he looked like? Did he have the ability to comprehend that he had an appearance, and would he be able to at all accurately portray it?

Kieren understood the direction and began to draw. He saw his reflection in the mirror frequently enough, and Simon occasionally took pictures of him that he’d show him (Kieren did not understand cameras, but was fascinated by the process all the same). Hesitant, he began with a very faint outline, sketching the light marks that would later be a face and shoulders. But as he drew, his mind began to wander, and he suddenly stopped altogether. Simon frowned.

 _“You okay,_ Kier?”

For a moment he was silent. Then, Kieren scribbled over the sketch and began to draw another, even more detailed apple. He didn’t want to draw himself. There was another face, one in the back of his mind, one that felt so familiar, so detailed and easy to picture that it was as if he had spent hours of his life just staring at it. That was who he wanted to draw, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

Simon noticed the odd, sudden change, and turned to Kieren with surprise. _“Er… everything alright?”_

Kieren looked up at him when he heard Simon speak. He stared at him for a moment, disoriented. The face in his mind looked nothing like Simon’s, and for some reason that was off-putting. He sighed and nodded then, and went back to his art, not saying anything.

xxx

When Simon left for work the next day, Kieren tried to draw the face in his mind. Drawing people was harder than drawing inanimate objects, or even animals, and he was unhappy with his results at first. But he kept trying, redrawing the image in his mind, trying to remember what exactly the face looked like. It wasn’t a clear image, more like a very, very faint memory, and he struggled to perfectly picture every detail.

That is, until Thursday night, when Kieren had another dream, and the face returned to the front of his mind.

Not at first, though. At first, Kieren was just walking deep into a cave. The cave was familiar, and before he even got to the end, he already knew what he would see - A man, a woman, and a young girl, all sitting on a large, soft nest. But in this dream, there was someone else. The owner of the face he had been picturing, with large, dark wings and warm, hazel eyes.

Kieren frowned and looked at the woman. His own voice asked, “Who’s this, Mum?” He sounded younger in this dream, he thought vaguely.

The stranger with the dark wings smiled and stood up, and he walked over to Kieren. “Hey,” he greeted. Kieren knew the voice better than anything else in the world, instantly recognized it, instantly wanted to hear more of it, and he shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. “Name’s Rick. Uh, I’m not from ‘round here. Left me nest to find a mate and was told that yer flock is a good place to start, given it’s size ‘nd all.” He smiled. Kieren did his best to commit the smile to memory.

“You’re a little young to be leaving the nest to find a mate, aren’t you?” Kieren heard himself ask now. The stranger, Rick, didn’t look much older than he was, and he would not be leaving for at least a few more years.

Rick shrugged awkwardly at that. “Yeah, uh… actually, me dad, he… he kicked me outta the nest. Upset that I didn’t want t’mate to reproduce and, er… he’s pretty big about carrying on the family name ‘nd shite. Told me if I was gonna be so selfish about who I choose t’mate with I might as well go and do it now.”

The woman, the one Kieren referred to as Mum - his mother? - walked over now. Kieren couldn’t see her face as clearly in the dream, couldn’t remember her as well. She placed a hand on Rick’s shoulder. “Well, you’re lucky to stay here as long as you like, love. Like you said, the flock is big. One more member won’t hurt anyone. We’re happy to have you!”

Kieren remembered smiling then. There was an odd, light feeling in his chest. He didn’t wake up in a cold sweat, and he didn’t shift uneasily the rest of the night. In the morning Simon woke him for breakfast and the dream was still fresh in his mind. As was the face - Rick’s face - that he had been wanting so desperately to draw.

 _“You seem like you slept well,”_ Simon noted. He was standing beside the toaster, and Kieren sat at the dining room table, watching him. _“You were smiling when I woke you up this morning. Have a good dream?”_

Kieren didn’t answer the question, but Simon chuckled all the same, and when the toast was done he set it on two separate plates - one for him and one for Kieren - before walking over and patting him on the head. _“Tomorrow you’re going to get your next set of shots, okay? Gary might call again, so don’t freak out if the phone rings.”_

There was only one word Kieren recognized amidst the sounds Simon was making, and he turned, looking at him with a furrowed brow. _“Gary?”_ the name made him immediately uncomfortable. He remembered Gary clearly enough, but he had trouble accessing the memories that went with the person. He just had a very, very bad feeling about them. 

Simon sighed. _“You don’t like him much, hm? Don’t worry. We’ll just be there for a little bit, then we’ll go do something fun. Alright?”_ He pet Kieren’s wing and then sat down across from him at the table. 

A little after that, Simon left, and Kieren got to work with his drawings. He could picture Rick well now, could imagine his face and hear his voice. He could not remember perfectly, and he still was not sure if Rick was from a memory at all, or perhaps just a character he had made up, but he could remember _enough._

Still, as he drew, he did feel some discomfort. Was Rick real? And what about the other people, and the cave? It had felt familiar, and even safe. He knew the place. Knew the people. He knew all of it just as well as he knew Simon and the home he lived in now. So why couldn’t he _remember_? He didn’t understand, and, honestly, part of him didn’t want to. 

Because the moment he thought too much about Rick, the moment he tried to remember more than just the small glimpses he got from his dreams, a terrible feeling started to fill him. And it scared him. So he focused solely on Rick’s face, solely on his smile and his eyes and his chin and the huge wings behind him, and nothing else. 

And when Simon came home, Kieren finally felt ready to show him what he had finished. He had practiced all morning before finally starting a sketch he was proud of. He knew his art wasn’t perfect still - he couldn’t capture Rick exactly as he wanted to, not every detail was in the exact right place - but he was happy with his work, and he hoped Simon would be too. 

Upon initially seeing the piece, for a brief moment, Simon had assumed it was Kieren. _“Did you finally draw yourself?”_ he asked curiously. However, he soon grew confused as he stared at the picture. It didn’t look like Kieren. Did he have that little understanding of his own appearance? Save for the wings on his back (and not even those looked like Kieren’s wings), it was an entirely different person. He pointed to the picture. “Kieren?” 

Kieren shook his head. “Rick,” he said. He smiled up at Simon. “His name was Rick.” 

Kieren stopped dead in his tracks then. _Was?_ He stared at the picture, silent and frozen. Why had he said _was_ …? The feeling he had been trying to avoid, scary and confusing and painful, filled the pit of his stomach and he took in a deep, trembling breath. 

What had happened to Rick? 

Simon’s brow furrowed at the odd reaction from Kieren, noticing the way he seemed to stiffen and his breathing seemed to grow shallow, but he was more curious about the picture than anything else. “Rick, _hm? Who is that? A friend of yours?”_ He looked like a male Avi just about Kieren’s age, Simon thought. Maybe he had known him back before he was sold. _“It’s a good picture,_ Kier.” He pet his wing. 

Kieren swallowed hard. “I think… I think something happened to him. But I don’t… really remember now. I don’t know where he is or who he is but I think something really bad happened to him.” He looked up at Simon almost pleadingly. “I… I miss him.” 

This was new. Kieren hadn’t missed anyone since Simon had bought him. He hadn’t remembered anyone to miss. But now there was Rick, just barely there in the back of his mind, nothing but a face who had spoken to him in a dream. And there was a terrible aching alongside it. He missed Rick. And he missed the woman and the man and the girl in the cave. 

“Kieren, _is something the matter?”_ Simon reached for Kieren’s hand and gave it a squeeze. _“Have you eaten today? Maybe I should make something.”_ Kieren willingly allowed himself to be pulled up from where he sat and lead to the kitchen, where Simon began to search for something for him to eat. 

The rest of the night went normally. Kieren was clearly distracted, which worried Simon a bit, but nothing bad happened. Kieren did not dream that night, but he did lay in bed for a few hours after Simon had fallen asleep, eyes open and heart thudding in his chest as he tried to remember more, tried to figure out what it was that was being kept from him. 

In the morning Simon took Kieren back to the Avi store, where they once more saw Gary. Like before, Kieren was given two quick injections, and like before, he was incredibly disoriented afterwards. Rick no longer came to mind, and by that evening he had completely forgotten the people in his dreams and the face he had spent so much time figuring out how to draw. 

Kieren drew a picture of the muffin Simon had bought for him after first taking him home that night, as that was the furthest back his memories would reach, and he slept easily and dreamlessly that night. 

Simon noticed the change in attitude, and assumed the medicine Gary was giving Kieren was doing its job. Perhaps his bad attitude had been due to an oncoming sickness of some sort. And we was grateful for their free access to the drugs - The last thing he wanted was for his good boy to get sick. 

xxx 

Philip came to work one morning to find Gary was nowhere to be seen. He wandered the hallways for a bit, calling out to him, before finding him in the parking lot in the back. He was loading up a large truck. 

“What’re you doing?” Philip asked, brow furrowing. _“Going on a trip somewhere?”_

Gary turned as he heard Philip approaching. _“Huh? Oh, yeah. Gonna go back up to try to replenish the stock. We’ve been selling pretty fast lately.”_

Philip took in a deep breath at that. Gary was going to go up to the mountains and kidnap more of them. If Amy had not come down here herself, it could have been her. The thought made him almost sick to his stomach. He couldn’t imagine it now, Amy being taken here against her will and drugged and sold like some sort of animal. 

But he couldn’t let Gary know any of that. _“Oh! Er, have fun. Are we closing the shop?”_

Gary shook his head. _“Didn’t you just hear me? We’ve been selling fast. It’d be daft to close the place now. Yer in charge.”_ Philip’s eyes went wide at that, but before he could question him, Gary continued. _“You have the keys to the building, and you know how to administer injections and take care of the birds. Just watch over the place.”_

Philip nodded, promising to do his best, and walked back in. He then sent in another employee to go feed the Avi in the back. He could never bring himself to comfortably take care of them himself nowadays. Knowing they were being drugged, knowing that if they weren’t drugged they would be just like him, knowing that they had family and friends and a home and emotions and thoughts and all of it had been taken from them, made him incapable of entering the room full of cages in the back. 

Instead he went to Gary’s office. Here, there were files filled with information. Different files contained different things - he knew, for example, that one drawer had files made up entirely of every Avi owner’s personal information. When they bought an Avi they signed a contract, and on the contract they were required to put their full name, their phone number, and their address. 

Kieren’s owner’s information was in that file. Philip decided to look through it. 

Glued on beneath each owner’s file was a brief description of the Avi they had bought. He flipped through, skimming quickly. He had no reason to be secretive or fast about this - after all, he was the boss right now, and no one could object to him going through files (even if until now only Gary had been allowed to do so), but he felt at risk all the same. This building felt dangerous, and he supposed it was dangerous, if you were an Avi. Or a wingless human illegally keeping an undrugged Avi in your apartment. 

Then, Philip stopped. 

_Young (18-19?). Male. Barn owl wings, brown eyes, blonde-red hair._

That was Kieren. 

Philip remembered the Avi well enough, remembered bringing him food the day he first arrived, remembered forcing his owner to put a leash on him. He sighed, trying to push down the guilt as he read the rest of the information. Just like everyone else, his owner’s information was written. 

Simon Monroe. 

The man’s name was Simon Monroe, and there was his phone number and his address. He now knew how to find Kieren. 

But he didn’t… _want_ Amy to go find Kieren yet. 

Because she would leave after she found him. That was why she was here. She was here for Kieren, and once they were reunited they would most likely return home to the mountains. 

And Philip should have wanted that. He should have wanted Amy to be happy, to go home with her friend. But he… _liked_ her. He didn’t want to lose her yet. 

Conflicted, Philip took out his phone, and took a photo of the information. He would give it to her, he told himself. He would definitely give it to her. But not immediately. Amy did not need to know it yet. She still had to learn English anyway. She was just starting to try to communicate, it would be a shame to let her go now. She had to stay and learn English, and help prove his point that Avi were indeed as intelligent wingless humans. 

Philip was not ready for Amy to leave yet. And Amy wasn’t ready to leave him. 

Right?


	9. Chapter 9

Four months passed. Kieren was happier than ever, and completely adapted to life with Simon. He hadn’t had any bad dreams, at least none that had woken Simon up, in weeks, and he was able to stay on his own for longer periods of time. His art had become even better, but he no longer attempted to draw Rick. Instead, he had begun to practice scenery, drawing the bathroom, the living room, the vase of flowers on the table.

He also, every now and then, would attempt a word or two in English. He still could not speak it, or even say a coherent sentence, but he would say phrases and words. And Simon was happy. Work was going well, Kieren was happy and healthy, _he_ was happy and healthy, and they had money and food and anything else he supposed one could need.

Things risked changing one Friday, while Simon and Kieren were out for lunch.

Kieren was eating a grilled cheese sandwich when he heard a buzzing noise. He looked up at Simon, who sat across from him. “Er… _phone…_?”

Simon chuckled. _“Yeah, you’re right, my phone’s going off. Don’t think I’m gonna answer it right now, though. They can leave a message.”_ He was about to take a bite of his own food when the buzzing stopped and then began again. Simon sighed. They were calling twice, whoever it was. Maybe it was important. _“Sorry,”_ he muttered to Kieren, pulling his phone from his pocket now. Suddenly, his eyes went wide.

_IAIN MONROE (Dad) CALLING_

Simon took in a deep breath. Visibly paler now, he gave Kieren an apologetic glance before answering the phone. _“H- Hello?”_

_“Simon. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”_

_“I- I’m getting lunch, Dad.”_

_“Lunch? Are you with someone? Who?!”_

Simon took in a deep breath. He hadn’t told his father about Kieren. In fact, he had not even spoken to his father since adopting Kieren. And he wasn’t about to have that conversation now. _“N- No one, it doesn’t matter. Wh- Why are you calling?”_

_“What, do you not want to talk to me?”_

Simon sighed. _“We just haven’t talked in awhile and I want to make sure nothing is wrong, Dad.”_

Kieren was watching worriedly. Simon looked anxious. He was tapping his fingers on the table now and his breathing was weak. His leg was shaking. Kieren reached over to place a hand over his, smiling a bit and hoping to comfort him. Simon returned the smile briefly, but continued the repetitive, anxious movements as the phone call continued.

_“Will you be home tomorrow, Simon?”_

_“Huh? Uh, yeah, definitely.”_ Kieren would be getting his shots tomorrow, and Simon didn’t like leaving the house the day of Kieren’s injections because he was always so out of it. He didn’t want to bring him in public in that state, but he also didn’t want to leave him home alone. So they would both just stay inside. _“Why?”_

_“I’m coming over. I need to talk to you.” >_

Simon let out a little gasp of fear at that. _“What? N- No, you can’t, Dad, I… I’m busy.”_

_“Didn’t you say you were going to be home?”_

_“Well, yes, but I’ll be busy.”_

_“Too busy for your father?”_

Simon let out a long sigh. _“Dad, look, some other time-”_

_“No. I’m coming over, Simon. You can take some time out of your life for your father. I’ll be over around six. Do whatever you want for dinner.”_

With that, Iain had hung up, and it took all of Simon’s willpower not to slam the phone down or smash it. He settled with stabbing his fork into the table instead. Kieren was staring at him with a concerned look on his face now, and when Simon noticed he sighed. _“Tomorrow is, er… going to be interesting,_ Kieren.”

xxx

Amy was getting better and better at speaking English each day. She was speaking in full, albeit sometimes grammatically incorrect or hard to understand, sentences, and she could understand most of what Shirley and Philip said - and at the very least, she could ask what something met if she could _not_ understand.

Tonight, Philip let out an aggravated sigh. _“Not looking forward to tomorrow. Saturdays are always the busiest day at work.”_

Amy was trying to figure out how to use chopsticks to eat the takeout Chinese food Philip had brought home for dinner. She looked up at the comment. _“Busiest? Why… are Saturdays busiest?”_

At that, Shirley patted Amy on the shoulder as a way of silently praising her for speaking so well. Philip looked up at her, and then grew pale. He hadn’t told Amy much of what work was like… _“Well, er… d’you know… what we do to the Avi we sell?”_ Amy shook her head, to show she didn’t know, and stared at him curiously. Philip sighed. _“We… we put things into them. Bad things. It’s called ‘drugging’ them. We inject - that means we put it into them, right here…”_ He reached over and took Amy’s hand, and gently poked the underside of her forearm. _“And the most common day for the Avi to come in to get the bad things put in them is on Saturday.”_

Amy frowned, staring at the spot Philip touched. _“What does it do?”_

 _“It makes them… forget things. They don’t remember where they came from anymore. They become dizzy and they can’t think well. It basically… makes them good pets.”_ Philip sighed. _“Like Fluffy,_ Amy. _They become like Fluffy.”_

At that, Amy, who could only understand bits and pieces of what Philip said, paled a bit. Eyes wide, she asked almost angrily, “ _Even_ Kieren?!”

Philip nearly winced at just the words. He nodded. “ _Y- Yeah. Even_ Kieren.”

Amy looked down at that, no longer hungry. Shirley and Philip exchanged a glance and Shirley, feeling bad, reached over to pat Amy on the shoulder again. In hopes of cheering her up she asked carefully, “ _Tell us about_ Kieren, _love. What is he like? It’s good practice for you to talk, too.”_

Hesitant, Amy looked at Shirley with uncertainty for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, she explained, “Kieren _is… nice. Very nice, and… cute. He is my friend!_ Kieren _and parents - er, his parents - take care of me… I have no parents. A- And_ Kieren… _was always there. He was always there and he always was nice and smart._ ” She looked uncertain with her words, but Shirley smiled and nodded, clapping.

 _“He sounds special! I’m sure you’ll find him soon, dear.”_ Shirley smiled and turned to Philip. _“Phil is doing his best to figure out where he is, isn’t he?”_ She smiled hopefully.

Philip took in a deep breath and laughed nervously at that. _“R- Right! I’m sure I’ll… figure it out soon.”_

xxx

Kieren was just as disoriented as always when he came home from the Avi store the next day. Simon had gotten pretty good at handling him, he understood that he needed some space, needed lots of food, and needed to be handled gently. By the next morning he would be thinking clearly again, but there was always, right after the injections, a period of time that lasted the rest of the night where he was barely even responsive.

Simon had tried to call Gary, tried to ask if they could come in a day later than usual, but Gary wouldn’t hear it. _“It would disrupt the entire schedule of the organization,”_ apparently.

But as it drew nearer and nearer to six o’clock, Simon found he could truly care less about the organization. He was making pasta, and Kieren was sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at nothing. While waiting for the water to boil, Simon walked out to check on him.

“Kieren?” he called. He walked over and sat down beside the other on the couch. Kieren looked at him with a frown on his face. “Kieren, _I need you to be a good boy tonight, d’you understand?”_ He pet him on the head. “Kieren’s _a good boy, yeah?”_

Kieren nodded a bit, smiling. _“Good boy,”_ he echoed, clearly still dazed. He flapped his wings happily, and Simon smiled back.

 _“Good. Be good for me. Just… just stay quiet and stay out of the way and don’t cause any trouble. If you’re really good, I’ll come up with some sort of reward, alright?”_ He kissed the top of his head and stood up, and Kieren watched distractedly as Simon went back to the kitchen to check on the water.

About half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Sighing, Simon answered it, to find his father standing there. Iain Monroe was an older man with graying black hair and a beard. He stood there, completely expressionless, waiting for Simon to let him in. Simon did just that, opening the door for his father and saying, _“Hey, Dad.”_

Iain sighed. _“Hello, Simon. How have you been?”_

Simon was tapping his fingers against his own leg anxiously. _“Fine. Yourself?”_

 _“Fine.”_ Iain hummed, looking around the interior of Simon’s house. His eyes stopped suddenly as they landed on Kieren, who sat on the couch still. _“Who is that?!”_

Taking a deep breath, Simon walked over to Kieren and gently pulled him to his feet. Iain raised a brow, staring at the winged boy. _“Th- This is_ Kieren, _Dad. Have you read about Avi? The creatures that look like humans but with wings?”_ He gently took Kieren’s wing and spread it out to show Iain.

Iain nodded. _“I think I saw something about them, yes. How long have you… had him?”_

_“Er… about half a year, maybe?”_

An almost bitter chuckle left the other man at that. _“So instead of a girlfriend you’ve been spending your time with a pet.”_ There was sarcasm thick in his tone and Simon felt his face heat up and his hands clench into fists.

 _“You know I’ve never wanted a girlfriend.”_ This conversation had taken place before. Iain had a look in his eyes that was almost challenging, asking Simon if he really wanted to go through with this right now. Simon honestly did not, and he decided to drop the topic for the time being. All he wanted was to get through this night without any problems, and then send his father home and avoid him for another six months.

xxx

Kieren sat beside Simon silently. He struggled with pasta, wasn’t good enough with forks to feel confident eating it, and he didn’t even know what the odd, purpleish drink in front of him was but it tasted bitter to him and he was avoiding it. So he spent most of the evening awkwardly pushing food around on his plate, not wanting to cause trouble or make a scene in front of the man eating with them.

He assumed it was Simon’s father. He looked a bit like Simon, but he was much older than him. Kieren didn’t even stop to think about his own father, could not remember him enough to even be certain he had one, but he did not understand why Simon seemed so upset to be around the other man. They were hardly even talking, just eating silently across from each other. Kieren was doing his best to stay completely alert, but his head was spinning still, the drugs that had been forced into his system this morning still seeming to fill his head with fog.

The older man cleared his throat and said, _“Simon, I came here for a reason.”_

Simon nodded and set his fork down. _“Yeah? What is it?”_ From his pocket, Iain pulled a small book. Simon stared for a moment, and then his eyebrows rose and he let out a soft gasp. _“Th- That’s mom’s-”_

 _“Your mother’s diary, that’s right. I found it in her things last night.”_ Iain was drumming his fingers along the table, watching Simon. Kieren looked between them both, noticed the pain in Iain’s eyes and the guilt and fear in Simon’s, and furrowed his brow. _“Did you ever read it, Simon?”_

Simon shook his head. _“No, you know she wouldn’t let anyone read it. She said it was personal.”_

_“She talked about her final months leading up to her death in here, Simon. Everything that happened. It’s all written down.”_

Simon nodded. Kieren noticed he was shaking his leg anxiously under the table. _“I know that, Dad, I know.”_ Eyes too focused on Simon’s leg, Kieren was caught off guard when his wing was suddenly touched. Simon was petting it nervously, stroking the feathers back and forth as if hoping to calm himself down with the touch.

_“I never knew you talked to her like you did.”_

_“Like I did?”_ Simon raised an eyebrow. _“What do you-”_

_“She was sick, Simon. She hardly had the energy to take care of herself and you came to her to complain about your goddamn feelings?!” _Iain shoved the book across the table to Simon, who only briefly glanced to it before looking back up at his father, clearly still not understanding. Iain let out a growl and slammed his fist on the table, and Kieren jumped. _“She says you would show up to see her and start rambling on and on about yourself. About how ‘sad’ you were. About how hard life was for YOU.”_ __

Simon looked confused now. _“Sh- She was my mother, isn’t that-”_

_“She was DYING.”_ He slammed his fist again. Kieren jumped for a second time, so Simon slipped his hand beneath the first layer of feathers to pet the down beneath, hoping to help calm him down. _“She says she begged you to see a doctor. Why didn’t you?!”_

Simon groaned. _“Because we needed the money for mom’s treatment-”_

_“Bullshit. You needed the money for drugs.”_

The room went silent after that. Simon’s eyes were fixated firmly on the ground. Iain was watching him, waiting for some sort of reaction. Kieren, who’s heart was still racing from the yelling and Iain’s pounding on the table, was eyeing Simon nervously, trying to figure out what was going on. 

Then, quietly, Simon said, _“I didn’t kill my mom.”_

Iain laughed coldly. _“Of course you didn’t fucking kill her. Cancer killed her. You just made her die faster.”_

_“I didn’t!”_

Simon stood up. Kieren jumped again, wings raising a bit almost defensively in surprise. Simon was staring at Iain coldly, his hands clenched into fists. But he didn’t look angry, Kieren thought. He looked hurt, and he looked upset, but he didn’t look angry. Kieren wondered what the conversation was about. And, briefly, he wondered, if this was Simon’s father, where Simon’s mother was. 

_“Why did you come over, Dad?”_ Simon asked. 

Iain said nothing. Instead, he stood and walked around until he was beside Simon, and he reached and grabbed the small diary from the table. Then he sighed and shook his head. _“I wanted you to know I had found the diary. And I wanted you to know that I know what you did.”_

_“What did I do?!”_

_“You decided that instead of spending some small amount of money on a doctor you would act like your dying mother could solve your problems? You decided that your mother had to be the one to listen to you ramble on about your bullshit about how much you hated life, about how badly you wanted to die-”_

_“It clearly wasn’t bullshit, considering I-”_

_“DON’T INTERRUPT ME, Simon!”_

There was a loud sound and suddenly Simon was letting out a cry of pain and stepping back. He reached up to clutch his cheek, eyes wide. Kieren had barely been able to follow what had happened, but it did not take him long to piece it together: The man had just _hit_ Simon. Instantly, he stood up. Iain walked forward, closer to Simon. 

_“You ruined my life, you spoiled bra-”_ Iain was cut off as Kieren jumped in front of him and shoved him back roughly, his wings raising defensively, warning him off. When Iain realized what had happened he let out a growl of anger and grabbed Kieren’s wings. _“Fucking bird!”_

Kieren cried out at that. Feathers were torn from flesh and for a brief moment the pain was so sharp and so intense that he only barely heard his own name being called out. He was shoved back, and he heard yelling, and the world around him moved too quickly to process. When he had begun to come to his senses the pain was still there and his head hurt, and he did not remember falling over, but he could see Simon and Iain facing each other now. Simon’s cheek was just a bit red. 

_“Leave.”_ Simon’s voice was cold. _“Get out, now.”_

Iain nodded. _“I am.”_ he replied coldly. He glanced to Kieren, glared at him in a way that made Kieren shrink back, before turning with a huff and exiting. _“You don’t deserve this house.”_ With that, he left, slamming the door behind him. 

Instantly, Simon was turning to Kieren. He knelt down beside him, helping him sit up, and began to inspect the injured wing. _“Are you okay,_ Kieren?” he asked softly. He stroked the hurt wing. There was a small patch that was missing some of its feathers, and a few feathers lay scattered around him, and when Simon gently ran his hands over the spot a bit of blood was left on his fingertips, but the injury did not look too bad. Still, Kieren was disoriented, not only from the attack but from the injections this morning, and he let out a little whimper as Simon tried to pull him to his feet. 

_“Are you okay?”_ Simon asked again, standing up and holding a hand out for Kieren. Blinking a few times, Kieren looked up at Simon, and a small, hesitant smile formed on his lips. 

_“Are you okay, Simon?”_ Kieren asked weakly. He took Simon’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. _“Are you okay?”_ he asked again. He didn’t know English well, could hardly understand a word, but he knew that phrase. He had heard Simon use it. Simon, who was always checking to make sure he was alright. And now he wanted to make sure Simon was alright. 

Simon laughed a bit and gave Kieren’s hand a squeeze before reaching up to gently cup his face. He stared at him for a moment, and Kieren stared back with confusion. His cheek was still just a bit red, and his eyes were glistening - Kieren realized there were tears in them. He gave a little nod. _“I’m okay,_ Kieren.” he promised. _“I’m fine. Good boy. And… and thank you!”_

xxx 

Keeping to his promise of rewarding Kieren if he was good, Simon took him out that night. They wandered around town a bit - Kieren rarely went out at night, and he never went out on Saturday nights. The streets were relatively crowded, with people all around them, walking and talking frequently stopping to stare at Kieren. Some would even gently touch his wing as they walked past. There were stores and restaurants lit up all over, and Kieren’s eyes were everywhere, for he could not stare at one thing too long in fear of missing something else. 

They eventually stopped at the corner of a street where Simon smiled as he turned to stare at a bright neon sign. Kieren could not read it, but he watched with awe at the glowing colors. _“You ever had ice cream?”_ Simon asked. 

As it turned out there were no pets allowed in the ice cream shop, so Kieren had to wait outside. As Simon walked in alone, someone turned to him and said, _“Can you really leave him without a leash like that? You sure he won’t fly away?”_

Simon, surprised, turned to the person, a pretty woman with longer brown hair who was working at the counter. Her name tag called her Haley. She was staring at the window, at Kieren, with wide eyes. Awkwardly, Simon chuckled and shook his head. _“N- No, he’s… he wouldn’t ever… fly away. I trust him.”_

Haley hummed. _“He’s well trained. And cute! Maybe I’ll look into buying one for myself.”_

Made oddly uncomfortable by the conversation, Simon attempted to change the subject. _“I, er… can I… order?”_

Simon ordered two chocolate ice cream cones before heading back outside to find Kieren still waiting. Kieren could not figure out how to interact with ice cream at first, beginning with biting it (which caused him to let out a yelp), but after watching Simon a bit he began to understand what to do. Eventually, they were walking down the street once more. It was a bit later now and there were less people around, and the sky was completely dark. Save for the few stores still open on each block, and the streetlights on the road, there were no lights out. 

Simon turned to Kieren, watching him in the darkness for a moment. He had gotten some ice cream on his nose. Simon laughed, reaching to wipe Kieren’s face clean with a napkin he’d brought from the store (because he _had_ thought ahead and realized Kieren would most likely need napkins for his first time with ice cream). Kieren turned to look at him, surprised, and Simon hummed. 

_“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,_ Kieren. _I didn’t want you to be dragged into that shit with my dad.”_ Simon said, glancing occasionally back to Kieren as they walked. For a moment he was silent, thinking back to the conversation, before grimacing and shaking his head. _“I really didn’t kill her. I didn’t, he knows that. He meant… I… she died the night I tried to kill myself. I- I woke up in the hospital and found out she had died.”_

Kieren could not understand a word. But he stared at Simon, eyes wide, hearing the tone in his voice and knowing that this was a serious and painful matter, whatever it was. Simon chuckled grimly. _“And I didn’t- I wasn’t hurting her by telling her about my problems. That’s all I did,_ Kier. _I just told her what was going on in my life. And she would tell me to see a doctor. And I wouldn’t…”_

Worried for Simon, Kieren reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He smiled nervously at him. _“Simon?”_

Simon forced a smile. “Kieren,” he replied with a little laugh. _“I’m sorry. You can’t even understand me, huh? Probably for the best right now. You don’t need to know about all of that. What matters is I’ve changed. I’m not… where I was before, okay?”_

_“Okay…?”_

Simon laughed louder at that, and he stopped walking to stare at Kieren for a bit. Kieren stopped too, and he looked away almost bashfully when he realized he was being stared at. Was something wrong? 

Simon was thinking back to the conversation he had had with Haley. _“Can you… fly?”_ He touched Kieren’s wings often, constantly stared at them, and he had seen Kieren use them expressively on multiple occasions, such as to show fear or surprise. But he had never seen him fly. Awkwardly, he made a flapping motion with his arms. _“Fly?”_

Kieren watched, not understanding what was being asked of him. Simon sighed and took one of Kieren’s wings, gently spreading it out, and then repeated the flapping motion. _“Fly,_ Kieren!” 

_“F- Fly…?”_ Kieren repeated awkwardly. He stared for a moment, and then, spreading out the other wing, he flapped it a few times. Simon nodded encouragingly, and Kieren started to have an idea of what he wanted him to do. He handed him his ice cream. 

Hesitant, Kieren took a step back. Flying from a flat area was difficult. He couldn’t remember how he knew this now, couldn’t place any exact location in his mind, but he knew it was significantly easier to take off by jumping. A cliff would be nice. But he _could_ fly from a flat surface. He had done it before, months ago. 

He took a running start, wings flapping clumsily at first, trying to pick up speed and beat the air down with wings that had hardly been used in months. They felt sore and stiff and the patch where feathers had been pulled stung just a bit, but eventually his beating grew more forceful and he felt himself lift off, off of the ground and into the sky. He remained rather low, beating his wings only to to keep himself up and not to go much higher, and he turned to look at Simon with wide, lit up eyes. 

  


Simon stared with awe and wonder at the winged boy. _“You can!”_ He laughed with delight. _“You can fly!”_ He ran over, and Kieren flew just a bit higher, to be above him. He flew higher even, up into the sky, and took a deep breath of air. It was near the end of summer now and the air was warm in his lungs, and he felt himself coming to life in a way he hadn’t in months. 

And there was, deep down, a very slight longing. A sort of sickness in his chest, as if he missed someone, but he couldn’t remember who or what. He felt out of place, the air here was too warm, too dirty, there was no breeze, no freshness. And beneath him were buildings and city lights. Beneath him were cars and groups of people. 

Beneath him was Simon. 

Kieren swooped back down so that he was above Simon again, as if to check he was still there, before flying back up into the night sky. Simon was watching him with amazement. He had known Kieren could fly - after all, he didn’t have those wings for no reason - but he had never really given it much thought. He had never tried to _imagine_ him flying before. He looked so natural, like he belonged up there. Nothing in the world could matter when you were up there, he thought, with the faintest hint of jealousy. 

And with that thought, there was the slight fear that Kieren was about to fly away. There was the tiniest voice in the back of Simon’s head saying, _He doesn’t belong here._ Kieren seemed happy here, but he seemed like he _belonged_ up there in the sky. And Simon didn’t know what to think. He took care of him, he fed him, he gave him a home. He took him in frequently to get shots to keep him from getting sick. But was this right? 

Simon supposed it wasn’t something to dwell on now. Kieren flew back down now and landed beside him, stood next to him with his wings out for a moment before he tucked them behind his back. He was panting a bit, his cheeks flushed with the exertion that came with flying, but his eyes were bright and he had a smile on his face. Simon smiled back. Kieren was here now. He was with him and he seemed happy. It wasn’t like he could go back to where he came from. 

_“That was incredible, Kieren!”_ Simon handed Kieren his ice cream back and shook his head with disbelief. _“Good boy!”_

Kieren smiled and nudged Simon lightly. He didn’t know what to say, wasn’t even sure why Simon had told him to fly in the first place, but his heart was beating in his chest and his mind was racing and even with the drugs still in his system he felt refreshed and alert. Simon chuckled. _“Let’s go home, okay?”_

They began to walk back. Simon felt a bit weird still, was a bit worried about Kieren’s happiness here, but things seemed okay. And he was happy to have Kieren. _“When Dad said I didn’t deserve the house,”_ he began suddenly, _“it’s because Mom left the money for me to buy it in her will. I used the money she left for me to finally move out and buy myself a house.”_

Kieren turned to look at Simon curiously, wondering what he was talking about now, and Simon smiled just a bit and continued. _“I think he’s right. I don’t really deserve it. But I’m glad I have the house so I could give you a home. You do deserve it.”_


	10. Chapter 10

Amy had been with the Wilsons for over a year. After six months she started going out at times, usually with Shirley or Philip, because they realized she shouldn’t be cooped up like she was. But she was forbidden from speaking in public - they didn’t want to attract attention. Just her being there at all was risky enough. Just her _existence_ caught people’s attention far too frequently. And there was always the risk of Gary seeing her. But things went well, and her English did nothing but improve as time went by.

She was almost fluent now. She still had trouble sometimes, and at times of great emotion she would slip back into the language she had grown up with, but she could have a coherent conversation and she could even write and read, although her reading wasn’t particularly fast and her writing was shaky and oftentimes spelled phonetically. Still, she was persistent, and intelligent, and she wanted to be able to find Kieren. So she did her best and learned well.

This evening, it was just her and Shirley at home. Philip was working. Amy was sitting on the couch, trying to get through the first chapter of Harry Potter. Shirley was doing dishes, and Amy would occasionally walk to the kitchen to ask for the meaning of a word.

When Amy got up again, before she could ask for a word to be defined, Shirley asked, _“Can you bring me the phone, love? I want to call Phil and make sure he remembered to pick up something for dinner.”_

Amy nodded and grabbed Shirley’s phone from where it sat on the dining room table. She handed to to Shirley who thanked her before dialing Philip’s number. The two stood in silence for a moment before a soft buzzing could be heard a few feet away. Philip’s phone sat on the counter. Shirley sighed and rolled her eyes. _“Looks like he forgot his phone again. Guess we’ll just have to wait and hope for the best!”_

Amy shrugged. _“Philip is... reliable! I’m sure he’ll bring food!”_

Shirley laughed at that. It was still a bit odd, to speak with Amy. It still felt almost like she shouldn’t be able to. Everyone else in the world considered her an animal, couldn’t possibly imagine she could communicate like a human being. And Shirley still had trouble comprehending it herself. _“You have more faith in him than I do,”_ she replied jokingly. _“I think I’m going to run out and grab something. If he does remember to bring something home, we’ll just eat it tomorrow or something. Sound good?”_

Amy shrugged. _“Whatever you think is best.”_

 _“Lovely! Alright, I’ll bring my phone, so you hold onto Philip’s, okay? If you need anything give me a call - You know how to do that, right?”_ Amy gave a shrug and a little nod. She hadn’t used phones much, she didn’t have one of her own and Philip didn’t seem very keen on letting her borrow his without strict supervision, but she could understand basics. _“The password is your name, dear._ Amy Dyer. _No capital letters, no space in the middle. Feel free to play around on it if you get bored!”_

A short while after that Shirley left, leaving Amy alone in the flat. She picked up Philip’s phone from the counter and went back to the couch, but instead of continuing her reading she decided to unlock it and try to figure out how to properly use it. Just as Shirley had said, the password was _amydyer_. She looked through the apps, tapping each one and trying to figure out what it did, reading what she could. Upon accidentally opening the camera, she let out a little gasp of surprise, trying to figure out what in the world the point of it was.

Then she accidentally clicked the camera roll. She looked at all of them for a moment, slowly understanding what they were. Most of the pictures were of Philip himself, and a few were of Shirley, and a few, to her surprise, were even of her.

But there was one photo that she could not recognize. It looked like a picture of a paper. Curious, she tapped it.

_Simon Monroe._

The words at the top of the paper said “Simon Monroe.” There were other words and numbers, she recognized one set of numbers as what looked like a phone number, and then, beneath that, there was a short paragraph.

_Young (18-19?). Male. Barn owl wings, brown eyes, blonde-red hair._

It took Amy about five minutes to read and fully understand, but by the time she got to “barn owl wings” she had an idea of what the words meant. They were describing Kieren.

This was information on Kieren’s owner. This was where Kieren was. She let out a gasp as she realized and the phone fell from her hand, and she stared at it with wide eyes. How long had Philip had this information?! She had to be wrong, she thought to herself. There was no way Philip would have kept this information, would have hidden it from her. She refused to believe it.

Terribly shaken, she went back to reading, trying desperately to forget about what she had seen, at least for now. She would ask about it when Philip and Shirley returned.

xxx

Philip made it home before Shirley. He walked in and looked around, and spotted Amy sitting on the couch. _“Hello,_ Amy! _Where’s mom?”_

Amy did not respond immediately. She looked at the phone sitting on the floor, unsure of what to say, scared of having the rest of her trust betrayed. Just when she had started to give the flightless a chance… _“Ph- Philip, I need to… ask something.”_ She stood up, picking the phone up and walking towards Philip.

A frown immediately found Philip’s face. _“What? What is it?”_ His eyes glanced over Amy, trying to find if something was visibly wrong, and when they landed on the phone in her hand he paled just a bit. _“You, uh… have my phone.”_

Amy nodded. _“You left it here.”_ she explained. She handed it to Philip. _“There was a… it described_ Kieren. _There was a number, and a name… Simon. Who… who is that? Why? How… long?”_ Her eyes were cold and distrusting, despite the hope that she was misunderstanding, that there was a good explanation. She had risen her wings just a bit in warning, showing she was not to be approached or messed with, threatening to fly or fight if the situation required it.

Philip swallowed hard. _“I- I was going to show you-”_

 _“Have you known where_ Kieren _is?!”_

_“I didn’t think you were ready-”_

_“How long?!”_

_“I didn’t want-”_

_“How long, Philip?!”_

Philip went silent and looked at the ground. He was trembling just a bit, mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure out what to say, tried to come up with some excuse for what he had done. Finally, he took in a deep, shaking breath and shook his head. Without looking up at Amy, he said, _“About… I dunno, sometime last year. I got hold of_ Kieren’s _owner’s information. But… but we had just started teaching you, I… I didn’t think you were ready.”_

Amy stared with wide, cold eyes. She took a step back then, and shook her head. _“You’ve had that since I first started learning? So I learned this stupid language for no reason?! I’ve been here for no reason?!”_

Philip shook his head. _“Not for no reason,_ Amy! _You- You proved that… you proved that Avi are human. That they can understand people and learn to talk to us. And- And you made me realize that I-”_

 _“I don’t care what I made you realize, Philip.”_ Amy snapped. _“My- My best friend, he’s been here for… how long? Being… being drugged, being treated like an animal. And you knew where he was! You could have gone and saved him!”_ She hardly paid attention to the tears that formed in her eyes, and she stubbornly blinked them away when they threatened to fall.

Philip took another deep breath. _“Please,_ Amy. _I’ll do- I’ll do anything I can to make it up to you, please.”_ The room around them was silent. Philip’s breathing was rough and he was still shaking a bit, filled with terrible guilt and regret and absolute hatred at himself for being as careless as he had.

Amy did not care about Philip’s feelings anymore. He clearly hadn’t cared about hers, after all. Or Kieren’s. She snorted. _“Anything? Then tell me where_ Kieren _is.”_

Ten minutes later, Amy had left the flat with a small piece of paper with nothing but a name and an address on it. Shirley came home shortly after to find Philip alone. He gave little explanation, only telling her that Amy was not going to be staying with them any longer, and that he had to find a way to make things up to not only her, but Kieren and every other Avi he had interacted with. He had to change things.

xxx

Kieren was napping. Simon would not be home for another hour or so, and he never felt very good the days leading up to his shots. Thursdays such as today, as well as the Fridays that followed, were often filled with weird feelings, a few odd memories that he could not completely place or sort in his mind. When Saturday rolled around he would be given the shots and after a day of dizziness he would feel fine again, but he never liked the last few days before that.

There was suddenly rough knocking coming from the back door. Kieren jumped up in tired surprise from where he was on the couch, blinking sleepily and looking around. _“Simon?!”_ he called out, heart hammering in his chest from the sudden awakening. But Simon never came in through the back…

Confused and a bit nervous, Kieren stood. He walked forward slowly, towards the back of the house. Someone was pounding on the back door, and Kieren didn’t think it was Simon. Swallowing hard, he called out again, “ _Si- Simon…?_ ”

“Kieren! Let me in!”

Kieren’s eyes went wide. That was his language. He knew that voice. He almost ran away, almost turned and hid, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He was instantly drawn to it and instantly had to see who the voice belonged to. Against his better judgement, he ran forward, grabbing the handle of the door and opening it. He was immediately caught in a suffocatingly-tight hug.

“Kieren!”

“A- Amy!” Kieren knew the name of the person before he even knew how. He hugged her back, his fingers running through long brown hair. He laughed a bit, squeezing her, body practically trembling. “A- Amy, I… what’re you doing here?!” He couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken and actually expected to be understood.

“Oh my _God,_ Kieren Walker!” Amy pulled away now and gave Kieren a kiss on the forehead. “I didn’t know if I’d ever seen you again! You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you!” She grabbed him by the hand now and tugged him forward, out the back door and into the yard.

Simon had not had much time to set up his back yard since buying this house. It was small and mostly dirt, with a few weeds growing along the back fence The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was growing a dark shade of blue with a faint hint of purple. Kieren missed flying up there, in the sky. He felt an odd ache in his chest.

“What’ve you been doing all this time, Kieren?” Amy asked, looking around at the small back yard and the house in front of them. “Are you okay?!”

Kieren nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, Amy! I’m completely fine. I- How did you get here!?” He was just barely starting to remember her. He knew that he knew her, he knew she was his friend - his best friend - but he could hardly remember their past together, or who she really was. Or who _he_ really was.

Amy let out a little laugh. “I followed you all the way down from the mountains, Kieren! All the way back when you were first taken. I’ve been staying here with a group of flightless people, they…” Remembering what Philip did, Amy’s smile twitched from her face for a moment, and she sighed. “What matters is I’ve found you. Come on, Kieren, let’s go home!”

She grabbed Kieren by the hand again and lifted into the air, tugging him up in hopes of getting him to fly with her.

But Kieren didn’t move. He stared, brow furrowed in confusion. He wasn’t entirely sure what Amy was even talking about. Followed him from the mountains? Taken? His head spun, but he felt like there were thoughts he couldn’t access, like there was something in his head that he couldn’t quite reach. Kieren shook his head. “I- I can’t.”

Amy’s expression dropped instantly. She landed once more and stared. “Are you crazy? We need to go home, Kieren.”

“Th- This is my home, Amy. I’ve been here for… for as long as I can remember, and I’m happy here. I can’t just leave _Simon_.” Kieren explained. “I’m so, so happy to see you, I really am, but I can’t just go.”

Amy murmured something under her breath at that that Kieren could not understand, and he realized a moment later that it was a word in English. She suddenly grabbed both of his hands and flipped them over to reveal the underside of his forearms, and she sighed. “There.” she pointed to a small area, just a bit swollen. “They put something in you every two weeks, don’t they?”

Kieren nodded. He opened his mouth to respond when Amy interrupted him with a groan. “That’s what’s making you think like this, Kieren! Those things… they’re terrible. They change the way your head works. You forget things and you start thinking you’re supposed to be in this world, instead of your home.” Kieren stared at her with confusion in his eyes, and he said nothing. Amy sighed. “Don’t you miss your parents? And Jem?”

“I don’t-” Kieren shook his head and looked away. His teeth sunk into his lower lip. “I don’t know, Amy. I don’t know who those people are. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Amy huffed. “It _does_ , Kieren. Your family has always mattered to you. And-” She hesitated now, scared of pulling the next card, knowing that it could end badly but not knowing what else to say. “And what about Rick, Kieren? Don’t you remember him?”

“No!”

“Yes you do!” Amy grabbed Kieren’s face. She wasn’t rough, and she clearly had no intention of hurting him, but she forced him to look back up at her, his dark eyes meeting her lighter ones. “You wouldn’t ever forget Rick, Kieren! I don’t care what they’re putting in you, you’re stronger than that!”

“I don’t remember him, Amy!”

“Not at all?” Amy didn’t look convinced. She stared with anger in her eyes now. She hadn’t gone through everything she had to go home without her best friend. “Not even the littlest bit? All of this time? You’ve just managed to forget about the most important person in the whole world to you? The person who _died_ for you?”

Kieren drew in a deep breath. “N- No. No, Amy. Stop it.” He shook his head again. “I… I’ve had thoughts, now and then. Dreams sometimes. Little… images, that show up in my head. I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to what?” Amy’s voice had softened a bit.

“I don’t want to remember.” Kieren turned around, facing the doorway back into Simon’s house. “I’m happy where I am now, Amy. I don’t mind not remembering all of the things that I’ve gone through. I really don’t. I’m okay with just being happy where I am now.”

Amy let out a soft sigh at that. She looked down, not knowing what to say now. Hesitantly, she said, “You’re not… you’re not helping yourself, by forgetting. I know it… it probably feels _easier_ , to forget, but you can’t… You can’t just forget because it’s easier.”

“Why not?”

“What happened was part of who you are, Kieren. It made you who you are.” Amy tried to explain. “Rick was so important to you, forgetting about him is like… it’s forgetting part of yourself, you know? Forgetting your family, your home… do you not see that that’s a big deal? That it’s bad?” Amy bit her lip.

“I’m not leaving _Simon,_ Amy.”

As if by magic, before Amy even had a chance to respond the doorbell rang and a voice called, “Kieren, _I’m home!”_ Kieren’s eyes went wide and he exchanged a glance with Amy, who looked utterly terrified, before running in to greet Simon just as he walked through the door. He gave Kieren a surprised look and chuckled a bit. _“You doing something out back?”_

Kieren swallowed hard. _“Simon,_ I…” But Simon couldn’t understand him, he remembered. He didn’t speak his language.

_“Simon!”_

Kieren let out a gasp and turned to see Amy walk in. She was glaring at Simon with hatred in her eyes and Kieren walked to him almost protectively. Simon stared for a moment before asking, _“Who are you?”_ He didn’t expect a response. Kieren had no idea what he had even said.

But Amy did. _“My name is_ Amy Dyer. _I’m_ Kieren’s _best friend. You must be Simon Monroe, is that right?”_

Kieren let out a gasp of shock. “You speak their language?!”

Amy didn’t respond. She walked to Simon and stared at him for a moment. _“Do you know what you’ve been doing, Simon Monroe?_ Kieren _isn’t a pet. He’s just like you. You’ve been drugging him every few weeks for over a year and forcing him here against his will.”_

 _“You can speak…”_ Simon could not respond at first, too shocked over the fact that Amy was communicating with him at all. He stared at her for a moment, fingers tapping anxiously on his leg at his side, before he cleared his throat and shook his head. _“I wouldn’t ever do that, er…_ Amy. Kieren _is happy here.”_ He turned to him almost nervously, giving him a hopeful smile. _“He’s a good boy.”_

Kieren nodded at that and took a step closer to Simon.

“Do you even know what _good boy_ means, Kieren?!” Amy snapped at him, saying the phrase in a sneer. Kieren jumped a bit at surprise at the tone, but he didn’t respond. Amy rolled her eyes and addressed Simon in English once more, _“Simon, the drugs you give_ Kieren _make him forget things. He has a family back home who he’s forgotten because of the drugs you give him.”_

Simon shook his head. _“I never gave him drugs that I thought hurt him.”_ he said softly. _“I was told they would keep him from getting sick.”_

Amy sighed. She walked over to the small couch and sat down, looking around the small room. Over the course of time, a little over a year, that Kieren had been here, the walls had become filled with drawings. There was a photograph of Kieren and Simon on the small coffee table. Kieren himself, Amy noted, was clothed and clean and didn’t seem hungry or hurt.

 _“Simon, listen to me.”_ she tried a new approach. Simon didn’t seem like he had bad intentions (but then again, neither had Philip…). Simon walked to her nervously and hesitated before sitting down across from her. “Kieren _grew up in the mountains, far away from here. There was a big flock of us. Like a huge family. One day he met someone named_ Rick.” Amy noted the way Simon’s eyebrows rose at that, and she wondered if he had heard the name before. “Rick _and_ Kieren _grew close and were going to become, er… married.”_ It wasn’t the perfect translation, but she remembered speaking to Shirley about how to best explain this and what language made the most sense awhile back.

Kieren stood still, staring between Simon and Amy. Hearing Rick’s name, his brow furrowed. “What are you telling him, Amy?!”

Amy ignored Kieren for the time being. “ _One day_ Rick _and_ Kieren _broke a, er… safety rule. They went hunting in a storm, and_ Kieren…” She pointed to her own wing. “ _Broke. They couldn’t… get married, because_ Kieren _had to fly for the ceremony. So they decided to do it later. But then… a group of you came and attacked us. And_ Kieren _could not fly away. One of you tried to shoot him but_ Rick _saved him and died instead. Do you understand?_ ”

Simon nodded slowly and turned to Kieren, looking at him for a long time. Amy continued speaking before she even had his full attention again. _“After we got attacked and_ Rick _died, lots and lots of us flew away. It was just me and_ Kieren _and_ Kieren’s _family left. Then you came back and took_ Kieren, _and I went after you to save him._ Kieren _does not belong here, Simon. You forced him._ ”

After a moment, Simon shook his head. _“But I didn’t. I didn’t do those things,_ Amy. _I’ve just taken care of him. I took_ Kieren _to try to help. I never hurt him or any other Avi.”_ Then he closed his eyes and nodded again. _“But if that’s true, then you need to go. You and_ Kieren _both._ Kieren _should go back home.”_

Amy’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t expected it to be that easy. _“Are you serious?”_

Nodding, Simon explained, _“I took Kieren home because I wanted to help him. I wanted him to not be trapped. But it sounds like that’s exactly what I’m doing. So take him.”_

Amy stood up instantly and ran to Kieren, grabbing his hands. “Kieren, he said you can go! We can go! You can come back home with me, he’s letting us!” She tugged at his arms urgently, trying desperately to get him to come with her, but he pulled away and stepped back.

“I said no, Amy! I don’t want to go!”

 _“Is there some sort of problem?”_ Simon asked, watching the two communicate, mesmerized by their ability to understand each other but mind racing with the information he had been giving and the hint of guilt that had formed within him.

Amy nodded and turned back to Simon. _“I told you, he’s being drugged. He doesn’t want to go home because he doesn’t remember.”_ Nervous that Simon would no longer let Kieren leave, she begged, _“Just… wait a few days. Don’t give him the drug. Let it get out of his system and then let him go. Please!”_

Simon nodded and stood, walking to them. _“I will, don’t worry. I’m not taking him in again. We were supposed to go in the day after tomorrow, but I won’t.”_ He turned to Kieren and smiled almost sadly at him, reaching to stroke his feathers gently. _“You hear that? No Gary. You’re staying home with me… and_ Amy.”


	11. Chapter 11

Simon took the day off of work the next morning. He didn’t know Amy, didn’t trust her with Kieren. He wanted to believe what she said was true, and the way she and Kieren had communicated made him at the very least believe that she would not hurt him, but he still feared the risk of her doing something bad.

They spent most of the morning talking about Kieren’s past. Kieren understood little of the conversation, for he still only knew a few basic phrase in English, and even if he could understand he could barely remember a thing, but he sat and listened. Then Amy shared some of her own story to a mesmerized Simon, whose suspicions that Kieren could speak English if he had been taught were confirmed.

With Amy speaking both of their languages, Kieren and Simon had the first chance to properly communicate with each other. She could translate for each of them, telling them what the other was saying. It was still a bit awkward, and it wasn’t perfect, but it gave Simon the chance to fully see Kieren as a sentient, intelligent person rather than the pet that he had been for a year, and it only furthered his decision to, if Kieren decided to, let him go home with Amy.

When Saturday came around, Simon did not take Kieren in. Kieren was surprisingly unhappy - he didn’t like the effect the drugs had on him, yes, but he explained the negative feelings that came the few days before the drugs as well, and how after the disoriented dizziness had subsided, he usually felt better. According to Amy, that was an even larger sign that he shouldn’t take it.

At five, Simon got a call.

 _“It’s Gary,”_ Simon explained to Amy, recognizing the number on the house phone. _“He’s probably calling about us not coming in…”_ He remembered what Gary had said the one time he had tried to move the appointment, how it would affect the disrupt the organization or something. He was undoubtedly angry.

 _“Don’t answer it!”_ Amy hissed, shaking her head. However, Simon sighed.

 _“I should,”_ he muttered. He did just that, answering the phone with a nervous, _“Hello?”_

 _“Where the hell are you?! You had an appointment this morning!”_ Gary snapped immediately. _“Waited all morning for you before I realized you weren’t coming. Bring ‘im in now!”_

Simon took in a deep breath. He glanced to Amy, who stood beside him, eyes wide and nervous. Then he looked at Kieren, who sat at the table. He was sketching a picture of Amy. Apparently he didn’t feel very good, but Amy insisted it was a positive sign - the drugs had to wear off. Without the renewed injections, he would have no choice but to start regaining the memories he had lost.

Simon couldn’t ruin things now. He had bought Kieren in hopes of freeing him, because he had sympathized with him when he saw him caged up like that. Now he had to keep to his promise. _“No.”_ he said. _“I’m not going in today. Or the day after that._ Kieren _doesn’t need the drugs.”_

Before Gary could respond, Simon hung up. When he looked over at Amy again, her eyes were bright and she was smiling a bit. She nodded. _“Good. Thank you, Simon.”_

xxx

Simon, Kieren, and Amy were eating dinner when there was a knock at the door. All three exchanged glances, Amy looks worried and Kieren looking confused. During all of the Kieren had spent with Simon, he had hardly ever received visitors. After a moment of silence there was another, more urgent knock on the door, and Simon stood up, taking in a deep breath.

_“Stay there,”_ he said. _“Watch_ Kieren, Amy. _I’m going to go see who it is.”_

Leaving a trembling Amy to watch after her friend, Simon walked out of the dining room and to the front door. He opened it after a moment of hesitation. _“Hullo?”_

_“Simon Monroe?!”_ There was a boy standing there with wide eyes. After a moment Simon gasped, realizing he recognized him from the Avi store. He worked for Gary. Instantly, Simon felt fear rise within him, unsure of what this boy planned to do. Gary must have sent him... 

_“That’s me. What are you doing here?”_

_“My name is Philip. Er, we’ve met before, a few times actually.”_ He sounded just as nervous as Simon, Simon thought. He was rambling a bit, eyes wandering around nervously, bouncing where he stood on the front porch. _“L- Listen, you and_ Kieren, _you’re in danger. Is- Is_ Amy _with you?”_

_“What? Yes, she is.”_ Simon’s eyes suddenly went wide. Amy had said that a flightless human had found her in the store and taken her home. Was it him?! _“Um, what are you talking about?”_

Philip let out a sigh of relief, but quickly resumed looking like an anxious wreck. Anxiously, he said, _“Listen to_ Amy. _She’s telling the truth, okay? Everything she says about Avi are true. And- And you need to get out of there now. You and_ Kieren _and_ Amy.” 

_“Why?!”_

_“The police are on their way over, Simon. Gary and the police. You signed a contract when you bought Kieren in which you agreed to a number of legalities, including Gary’s right to revoke your ownership of Kieren should you refuse to follow Avi guidelines. He’s not letting Kieren stay with you if you’re not going to keep him drugged.”_

Simon’s eyes widened at that. He stared at the boy for a moment, shocked by the words, his heart beginning to beat faster as he fully comprehended the warning. Gary was coming, and he, somehow, had the law on his side with this. Kieren was going to be taken away and he was going to be arrested. _“Wh- What do I do?!”_

_“G- Gary said if you won’t drug him then you can’t keep him. If you don’t agree to let Gary drug him when he gets here, well… By refusing to take_ Kieren _in you’re violating the law… But he doesn’t know about_ Amy… _Look, Simon, you all need to hide somewhere. You can come to my flat, if you want. There’s not a lot of room but it would just be for a few days, until Gary… gave up or something…”_

Simon sighed. He thought back to all that Amy had said. He remembered the nightmares Kieren had, the way he had tried to draw Rick once and couldn’t bring himself to ever try again. He remembered seeing Kieren flying, and wondering if he really belonged here at all. 

He shook his head. _“Thanks, but no. I’m not going into hiding to keep a human being as a slave._ Kieren _is going to go home tonight. Gary can come over but there won’t be anybody to drug.”_ Simon suddenly turned, not elaborating any further to Philip as he walked back to the dining room. The way his face had paled and the worry in his eyes was enough of an indicator for both winged people to know something was wrong. 

_“You need to get_ Kieren _out of here NOW,_ Amy!” 

Amy stood up. She looked around, glancing to a very confused Kieren and then looking back up at Simon. _“What’s happening?”_ Before Simon could respond, Philip had run in, and Amy’s eyes went wide with shock. _“What are you doing here?!”_

Philip swallowed nervously. “ _H- Hi_ Amy...” 

_“He came here to warn us. Gary is on his way over with the police. He’s going to take_ Kieren _away, or force me to drug him. You need to take him,_ Amy.” Simon sighed and turned to Kieren. Kieren stood up, walking to him and looking at him with wide, confused eyes, and Simon shook his head and looked away. “Kieren, _please. Please get out of here. You have friends and a family and a home and it isn’t here. You need to go home, okay? Go with_ Amy.” 

Swallowing, Kieren turned and looked at Amy. “What did he…?” 

Amy was too focused at the moment on Philip to respond. She was staring at him, confusion and hurt and anger in her eyes. Then, bitterly, she snapped, _“Why did you come here?!”_

Philip shook his head. “Amy, _I’m sorry. I really am. But- But-”_ He looked around, bouncing up and down anxiously, wondering how far away Gary was now. _“Look,_ Amy, _go, okay? Go home. I didn’t come here for any other reason but to help you, I swear. When Gary said he was going after_ Kieren _I knew I had to try to help. Please, just go.”_

Amy continued to stare, and her expression didn’t change. It was not until Kieren tugged on her arm and said, “Amy, what is going on?!” that she seemed to be pulled back into reality. 

“They want you to go home, Kieren.” Amy said. She walked over and took his hand in her own. “ _Simon_ is telling you to go home. You’re not safe here and you need to get away quickly, and he wants you to go home with me. Back to the mountains, with your parents and with Jem.” 

xxx 

Kieren and Simon did not say goodbye. 

Kieren didn’t know how to say it in Simon’s language. Simon couldn’t bring himself to. There was a sort of awkward, surreal feeling to the departure that felt informal and left Simon unable to think of the right thing to say, and he was too worried about getting Kieren and Amy away safely to have time to come up with anything. Kieren was clearly unsure of himself, clearly not particularly happy with leaving, but he still left with Amy. 

The sun was just beginning to set when Kieren and Amy lifted off from the backyard, and Simon watched them until they were nothing but specks in the sky, tiny and dark and too small to make out who was even who, and then, just like that, they were gone. 

Philip was already driving away when they had left. He wondered vaguely if Amy would ever forgive him. He supposed it didn't matter now. 

xxx 

Kieren and Amy spent the next week traveling. Kieren did not know the way home, even if he was not still trying to get the memory altering drugs out of his system, he had not been conscious during the trip to the flightless city, but Amy had been, and Amy knew the way. And although it had been a year since either had left, she had not forgotten the route. 

Still, they took their time. 

Neither had traveled long distances by flying in months, and they had to stop frequently for rest. Hunting was difficult and they ate little during the entire trip. But when they stopped to sleep they would sit up talking about their experiences in the world of the flightless. Amy talked about learning English, about Philip and Shirley and the way Philip had held information of Kieren’s whereabouts from her. But she also talked about the way he and Shirley had provided food and shelter for so long, and the way Philip had, in the end, come to warn them of Gary. 

Kieren talked about Simon. He didn’t know much about Simon, he realized quickly. He had not been able to understand him when he spoke. But he knew he was kind, and knew he had taken care of him, and he knew that there was a man who had come over one night and yelled at him and hurt him. 

As they drew nearer to home and the forests turned to hills turned to mountains, they began to talk about their earlier memories. Kieren was just barely beginning to remember, having only been off of the drug that had taken his memories from him for a few days. But he listened to Amy’s stories and some things began to return to him. 

It was eight days after leaving Simon that they came to the base of the mountains they called home. It was dark already, and Kieren’s wings ached from flying, so they rested in the valley beneath the mountains, and decided to fly up and finally reach home the next morning. 

As they settled down to sleep at the base of a large tree, Kieren let out a soft hum. “I used to wonder what it was down here, you know.” 

“You did,” Amy remembered with a giggle. “Is it everything you thought it’d be?” 

“Not really.” Kieren shrugged. “I didn’t really have high expectations, though. I was just curious.” The air was warm, it was early summer and the sky above them was dark but clear and filled with stars. Still, in the darkness the valley was hard to see clearly. Kieren could see nothing but silhouettes of trees and grass and the huge, dark walls of mountains. Nearby, he could hear the sound of rushing water. 

The ground beneath him was hard and covered in dirt and he could feel his clothes, already worn and dirty from travel, getting even dirtier. He missed having a bed to sleep on. But he drew in a breath of air, and despite the warmth of it, it felt fresh in his lungs and he let out a little sigh. “We should sleep.” 

Amy nodded and lay back against the tree. She closed her eyes and shifted a bit to get comfortable before she let out a little “Oh!” and sat up again. She reached for Kieren and when her fingers touched his neck, he frowned. 

“What’s wrong?” 

"Your still have, er…” She frowned and fidgeted at his neck for a moment, and then something fell from Kieren’s neck to the ground. Kieren sucked in a breath and reached up to touch his own neck. A light blue collar sat on the ground in the dirt. He was collarless for the first time in over a year. Amy hummed. “Better?” 

Kieren did not respond immediately, eyes wide on the soft blue collar on the ground. He remembered Simon buying it for him. He had been wearing the uncomfortable leather one before that. “Hadn’t even noticed it was on.” 

xxx 

It was early the next morning when Kieren and Amy set off again. The air was cool and crisp, fresher than any air they had breathed in months. Kieren’s wings were finally growing accustomed to being used and as they flew higher into the sky and towards the top of the mountains he began to recognize everything. Small ledges he had rested at, little caves he had hidden in. Everything was the same. In the year he was gone, his home had not changed.

At one point they flew over a plateau with a rock on it. Kieren glanced down at it only briefly. He felt little emotion, an odd numbness spreading through him for a moment. He did not dwell on it, or even look at it for a very long amount of time. They were close to the nest now.

They came to a cave with a small ledge jutting out of it. There were scorch marks on the ground and a pile of firewood beside it. Kieren remembered collecting firewood for that pile. The wood he had collected had probably long since been used. Amy landed first, stretching her wings before folding them and walking into the cave.

Kieren was not far behind her. He landed silently, eyes wide and mouth open as he stared at the cave, scared of entering, scared of what he would see inside. He took in a few breaths, trying to calm terrified nerves, trying to tell himself it would be okay.

A soft call of, “Kier?” was what spurred him forward.

But Kieren barely made it a single step into the cave when he was caught in a hug. A girl had grabbed him, was hugging him tightly, face buried in his shoulder. She squeezed him tight and let out a soft sound that Kieren realized was a sniffle, as if she was trying to keep herself from crying. Kieren reached to touch bright red wings on her back.

“Kier!” the girl finally managed out, voice weak. “K- Kieren, you- you’re not-” She stepped back and stared at him now. Kieren saw his sister’s face for the first time in a year. There were tears in her hazel-green eyes but there was a small, incredulous smile on her face. Then after a moment of staring on the verge of tears, she let out a soft laugh. “What the hell’re you wearing?!”

Kieren laughed too. “It’s good to see you too, Jem.” he said, overwhelmed.

A moment later Amy came running out. Behind her were two people and Kieren’s eyes went wide as he saw them. He was caught in a second hug by both of them. Sue began to cry, grabbing onto Kieren’s arm as if clinging to him, as if scared of letting go. Kieren’s breathing was becoming shakier and finally he, too, found himself letting out a sob, reaching for Jem and hugging her again as he began to cry.

Kieren said nothing for a long while. All five people, Kieren and Jem and his parents and Amy, stood outside of the cave, hugging in silence. Kieren was occasionally asked questions, and of course he didn’t blame them for having questions, but he had no energy to answer them, and he responded with nothing but shaking his head or a weak nod. Then they convinced him to enter the cave.

Inside, Kieren’s parents insisted he and Amy sit down on the nest. It wasn’t as soft as a bed, made mostly of furs and cloth piled up together, but it was still better than sitting on the ground, and the familiarity of it provided a different type of comfort than a mattress ever could. Once he was settled and had managed to stop crying, he and Amy were bombarded with questions.

The rest of the night was spent telling their story. Kieren shared his experiences, telling them everything he could, and Amy shared hers, and then they came together to tell how their year had come to an end, being reunited and Simon encouraging Kieren to leave before Gary came over. Kieren found himself wondering, vaguely, if Simon was okay. Had Gary ever come? Had he hurt Simon? Was Simon safe?

He mentioned it to Amy briefly a bit later, asked her if she thought he was alright, but she dismissed the question immediately. “He’s not important anymore, Kieren. You’re home now.” she had said. Kieren supposed she was right.

xxx

Four months had passed and Kieren was bored.

Not just that moment (at the moment he happened to be cooking the first rabbit he had caught on his own since coming home), but in general. He was bored here, and he felt terribly out of place. He was out of his flightless clothing and back in the clothing most of his species wore, the clothing made of furs. He wasn’t taken in to be drugged twice a month, and he appreciated that, but he was also alone frequently, and he couldn’t draw very well here - there was nothing to draw with or on other than the homemade paint they used.

His parents seemed to be trying to forget about the year he had spent with the flightless. He supposed he could not blame them. It must have been hard, to lose him, to have no idea where he had gone or if he was okay. Now that he was back and safe his parents had worked to make things go back to normal shockingly fast. But they weren’t really normal. At least, they weren’t the same as they had been a year ago. Too much had happened for things to be the same.

“It’s burning, idiot.”

Kieren jumped with surprise and turned. Jem stood, watching him with a smirk on her face. “You’re burning your rabbit,” She walked over and sat beside him in front of the small fire. “Something on your mind? Or did you just forget the basics of cooking while you were away?”

 _Away._ That was the word they were using. It was as if no one could believe he was kidnapped and taken from home and spent a year of his life in the home of a man who couldn’t even speak his language. Or, rather, no one could imagine it. Because he and Amy were the only ones who had any sort of context, any sort of ability to comprehend it all. And for a moment Kieren considered lying, telling her everything was fine, but he felt a pang of guilt in his gut and he sighed. “I dunno, Jem. I’m not… I don’t feel like I belong.”

Jem rolled her eyes and shoved Kieren at that. “Because you don’t, dumbass.” She grinned as Kieren stared at her with offended shock at that. “Kier, I came to find you to tell you I’m leaving to find a mate soon. Leaving the nest! That’s what we’re supposed to do when we get older, remember?”

Kieren blinked. “Leave the nest…?” He did remember now. He remembered his refusal to leave. He wasn’t going to search for a new mate, he remembered. Not after having found one.

Almost.

Jem nodded. “That’s right. I’m leaving. You’ve been old enough to leave for _years_ now. You feel out of place because you are.” She nudged him again. “I’m glad your home, okay? We all are. But it’s normal for you to want to get out of here.”

With that, Jem got up again. “I need to go tell Mum and Dad. They don’t know yet, you’re the first person I’ve told.” She smiled and spread her wings, flying off at that. Kieren sighed and went back to the direction of the fire. He stared at it for a moment, not caring about the fact that he was burning his food, too distracted and lost in thought. Then, with a sigh, he stood up.

Amy was in the nest when he found her. She looked up at him as he entered, but the smile on her lips faded as she saw the look on his face. “Is something wrong?”

Kieren shook his head and sat down in front of her. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Do you think… you could teach me English?”

xxx

Just as promised, about half a year later Jem left. They had a going away party for her, and she promised to visit soon, and guaranteed that when she found a mate they would come back to visit. It was after dinner that she gave everyone one last goodbye hug and flew off. Kieren sat outside of the cave for the rest of the evening, staring out into the spot in the sky that she had disappeared into. Then, once everyone had gone to bed, he flew off to the mountainside where he had kept his shirt - the shirt he had worn the day he arrived back home.

Taking it from where it was hidden at the top of a large tree and bringing a small bowl of paint, he flew down to the first flat surface he could reach - the plateau. He sat down in front of the rock and stared at it for a moment. Rick’s name was almost entirely faded, but it was still readable, and he sighed and gently touched the top of the stone. Then he turned to his shirt and the bowl.

Dipping his fingers into the paint, he began to write a brief message on the back of it.

In the morning, Kieren was nowhere to be seen. Panic subsided quickly, however, when Amy found a shirt at the front of the cave. She found the message written on it.

“Amy, I’m going away. There are still hundreds of us being kept as pets by the flightless and nobody's doing anything to help. I’m going back. I’m old enough to leave the nest, so… tell my parents that’s what I’ve done, okay? I’ll come visit when I can, I promise! -Kieren.”

After reading it to herself, she read it aloud to Kieren’s parents. For a moment there was silence. Sue looked a bit like she was going to cry, but she didn’t. Then, Amy began to laugh. Kieren’s father frowned. “Is something the matter?”

Amy shook her head and continued laughing as she walked to the front of the cave, to the ledge, and spread her wings. “Kieren may be my best friend, but he’s awfully dumb if he thinks he can go out and fight for justice without his best friend.” She looked up at the sky. It was a clear, sunny morning. The air was warm save for a cool early morning breeze that blew through her hair. “He couldn’t have left too long ago. I can catch up! Plus, I know where he’s heading.” 

With that she dove down, falling through the sky until she spread her wings and flapped them a few times and she swooped back up into the air. She waved to Kieren’s parents from the sky. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ll take care of him!” She laughed once more, turned, and with that she was gone.

xxx

_“Gary found a new flock on Wednesday’s expedition. Took home about fifty Avi. He’s getting better at catching them…”_

Philip sat on the couch in Simon’s living room, on his laptop. With a frown he skimmed over an article on a movie that would be starring an Avi - played by a flightless human with CGI wings, of course, as no one could imagine an Avi being capable of doing something as complicated as acting. He was taking notes for the article Simon would be writing for the website soon. _“They’re starting up a breeding program, too. So soon you’ll be able to buy children. Er, well, I guess teenagers? They don’t grow wings until they’re about twelve, and no one wants an Avi without wings.”_

Simon laughed bitterly. _“‘Course they don’t. An Avi without wings is just a human, and you know no one wants to feel like they’re keeping a human as a pet.”_ He was on his own computer, distractedly reading an email. He laughed again as he read it and looked up at Philip. _“Gary can’t take down the website. Freedom of speech and all. We’re completely allowed to run a site talking badly about his business.”_

 _“You mean YOU'RE completely allowed - I’m not part of this, remember?”_ If Gary found out how involved he was Philip would lose his job, which meant he would not be able to keep a close eye on the captured Avi. _“Think he’ll try to sue or something once we - er, you - start the fundraiser?”_

 _“Oh, I’m sure.”_ Simon rolled his eyes. _“But he won’t be able to do anything about it. If we can buy a place for abandoned Avi, or Avi whose owners don’t want them anymore, we can start teaching them English and helping them adapt to life here. There’s too many for the main goal to be to send them back to the wild. Now that we know they exist we can’t just try to undo it. This is a good - and completely safe - starting point.”_ The real goal would be to shut down Gary’s operation entirely, but for now, helping those who were affected by it was enough. _“We already have a good number of people saying they’ll back it. Not everyone is as on board as Gary is with the idea that Avi aren’t human enough to be treated like people.”_

Shirley walked in with a phone in her hand. She had a smile on her face. _“Just got off the phone with Ken Burton, the man who Gary tried to get arrested for secretly buying five Avi and letting them go?”_ She laughed a bit. _“Everything well with you boys?”_

Simon nodded. _“Yeah, everything’s great.”_ He sighed. Naturally, he still missed Kieren, still wondered where he was, if he had made it home safely. The house felt empty without him, and at times he caught himself talking aloud for no reason. But this was the best thing he could do, he thought. If he could even begin to show others that Avi weren’t animals, that they weren’t pets, if he could stop other Avi from being treated the way Kieren was, he would be happy. _“I think we should-”_

He was suddenly cut off by a knock on the back door. From the backyard he heard a familiar voice call out,

_“Simon…?”_

-end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go!! This was the whole fanfiction... took me multiple hours to upload, took me multiple MONTHS to write, but I'm so happy with it. I want to thank Reese/itfdoodles again for their gorgeous illustrations, and I want to thank everyone else who's been apart of helping me write this!! It's not only the longest fanfiction I've ever written (by about 20,000 words!!) but it's one of the longest things I've ever written EVER.
> 
> I'm so happy with it and I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you so much again to the admins of the Big Bang for letting me have the opportunity to do this. I really loved everything about this experience!! X


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